






i '■ 

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X 




ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO. 



THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, 



ANTIQUITIES OF THE INDIANS 



OF 



NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA: 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 



PETER PARLEY'S TALES, 

;- ■ 



PHILADELPHIA: 

THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO. 

1846. 




35 k* 

•o\ 



i 



Printed by T. K. & P, G. Collins. 



PREFACE, 



We have already given to the public two volumes upon the 
Indians of North and South America. The first, entitled 
" Lives of Famous Indians/' presented the history of some 
of the master spirits of the red race ; the second, entitled a 
" History of the American Indians," was designed to furnish 
a brief outline of their story, from the earliest existing records 
to the present time. 

We now offer a view of the Manners, Customs, and Antiquities 
of the Indians, both of the northern and southern portion of the 
Continent. The subject is exceedingly fertile in curious phe- 
nomena, and, though our brief space confines us to mere 
sketches, we believe enough is presented to enlist the sympa- 
thy of the reader, and to open new sources of deep and touch- 
ing interest. The picture of one of the great families of our 
race living apart from the rest of the world, and working out 
their destiny in isolation, — presenting the spectacle of man's 
progress when left as a savage without contact with civilization 



IV PREFACE. 

for ages, — cannot fail to urge a strong claim to our attention. 
The varied phases of humanity, under such circumstances, 
will be found to suggest many new views of human nature, 
and will doubtless lead to many useful reflections. 




CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

The Mexican Indians, 7 

Antiquities of Central America, . . . 89 

Indians of Peru, ....... 105 

The Araucanians, , 164 

The Abipones, 174 

Various South American Tribes, .... 178 

The Atlantic Tribes of North America, . . . 186 

Manners and Customs of the Savage Tribes of 

North America, 189 

Manners and Customs of the leading Indian 

Tribes of the "West, 295 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE 
AMERICAN INDIANS, 




THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

When Cortes landed upon the coast of Mexico, in 
1519, the country immediately around the city of 
Mexico, bore the general name of Anahuac. This 
embraced several states, which at this period con- 
stituted the proper kingdom of the emperor, Mon- 
tezuma, though he exercised domain over a much 
wider territory. The regions occupied by the Mex- 
icans, had been long peopled, but the early inhabi- 
tants were savages. A nation called Toltecs came 
hither from the north, probably in the seventh cen- 
tury, and settled there. These were skilled in 



8 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

agriculture, the mechanic arts, architecture and astron- 
omy. They were therefore the source of that civili- 
zation which was found among their successors, the 
Aztecs, or Mexicans. The noble ruins of religious 
and other edifices, found in Central America and the 
contiguous regions, are referred to this people. 

After three or four centuries, this race, who had 
extended their dominion over the whole of Anahuac, 
being greatly reduced by war, famine and pestilence, 
disappeared, and probably emigrated to the south, 
where they founded the cities of Copan, Palenque, &c, 
whose majestic ruins still excite the wonder of the 
beholder. 

The Toltecs were followed by other races, some of 
them in a savage state, and others bearing the marks 
of incipient civilization. Among these were the Az- 
tecs, or Mexicans, and the Tezcucans, who in due 
time became the masters of such portions of the coun- 
try as they occupied. While the former remained in 
a state of poverty, the latter rose to a considerable 
pitch of prosperity and power. They continued, 
however, to maintain an alliance with each other; 
though their two capitals, Mexico and Tezcuco, both 
on the Mexican Lake, became populous and wealthy 
cities. 

By degrees the Mexicans triumphed over the diffi- 
culties by which they had been oppressed, and under 
a series of able kings had stretched their dominion 
across the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
This extent of empire is remarkable, considering it as 
the acquisition of a people who had recently been 
confined to a single city. This point in the history 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 9 

of the Mexicans, bears a singular analogy to that of 
Eome in her earlier days. 

The history of the conquest of Mexico^ cannot 
be detailed here : it will be sufficient to say, that after 
landing on the continent, Cortes received assistance 
from the Tlascalans, and, marching to Mexico, he 
speedily made himself master of that capital. The 
whole country soon fell under the Spanish dominion, 
in which condition it remained till the people declared 
their independence, in 1821 ; since that period it has 
been a separate state. 

The population of the territory of Mexico, or Ana- 
huac, at the time of its conquest, cannot be easily 
estimated ; but it is supposed to have been, at least, 
equal to what it is at present ; which is about eight 
millions. It is probable, indeed, that it was even 
greater. 

Inhabitants. — When Cortes landed among this 
strange people, separated by the ocean from civilized 
and enlightened nations and surrounded by savages, 
he was still surprised to find that they possessed many 
arts and customs of civilization, strangely blended with 
atrocious barbarities. 

Their countenances appear to have been equally 
enigmatical ; for while their round faces, farther re- 
moved from the oval than that of any other people, 
bore, to a casual observer, an innocent expression, it 
disguised their more uniformly sullen and distrustful 
character. Their foreheads were low, their lips thick, 
and their noses pointed down towards their upper lip. 
Their hair was straight and black ; their eyes, small 
# See "History of the Indians of North and South America." 



10 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

and black or chesnut colored ; they were keen-sighted, 
and discerned objects at a great distance. Although 
the men were Well shaped, they had not hardy consti- 
tutions, a fact which the Spaniards imputed to their 
spare diet. 




Dress. — The men wore two or three mantles over 
three or four vests of various colors, which were woven 
in figures of animals and flowers, of feathers and fine 
rabbit hair ; they wore also a very large belt with the 
ends twisted and hanging before and behind. The 
women were attired in a square mantle about four 
feet long, two ends of which were tied upon the breast 
or on one shoulder ; the gown was a square cloth in 
which they wrapped themselves from the waist down 
to the middle of the leg. This, with an under vest or 
waistcoat, completed their usual costume. 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 11 

The dress of the poorer classes was made of coarse 
thread from the mountain palm, while that of the rich 
was of the finest cotton embellished with many colors. 
The nobles wore shoes worked with gold and jewels, 
and soled with leather, while the poorer people sub- 
stituted for these a coarse cloth of the palm, tied with 
strings. 

The hair was worn long, and floated on their shoul- 
ders, or was bound in tresses. All classes except the 
consecrated virgins thought they were dishonored by 
having the hair cut. There was much extravagance 
and display in feathers and jewels ; their necklaces and 
bracelets were of pearls, emeralds and amethysts ; in 
their ears, upper lips and noses they also wore jewels, 
and those who could afford nothing better, even deco- 
rated themselves with shells and pieces of crystal. 

The Mexicans, like all Indian nations, had a pecu- 
liar fancy for painting their bodies of a red color with 
a certain kind of earth, found among them. The 
mine of Guancavelica was formerly of no other use 
than to supply them with materials for painting their 
bodies. Cinnabar was also employed for the same 
purpose. It may seem strange, that those whose 
natural color was red, should use that color for artifi- 
cial decoration ; but connoisseurs in dress, who un- 
derstand the harmony of colors, know that strong 
contrasts do not so well display the complexion as the 
hues which blend with each other. 

A husband's toilette was of infinitely more impor- 
tance than the wife's ; the most beautiful jewels were 
reserved for him, and she often spent much time in 
painting her lord and master. 



12 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

The taste for magnificence in decoration and dis- 
play, is exhibited in the following description, from 
Mr. Prescott's history, of the first interview between 
Montezuma and Cortes. " The Spaniards now beheld 
the glittering retinue of the emperor, emerging from 
the great street which led then, as it does now, 
through the heart of the city. Amidst a crowd of 
Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of state, 
bearing golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin 
blazing with burnished gold. It was borne on the 
shoulders of nobles, and over it a canopy of gaudy 
feather work, powdered with jewels, and fringed with 
silver, was supported by four attendants of the same 
rank. They were barefooted, and walked with a 
slow, measured pace, and with eyes bent on the 
ground. When the train had come within a conve- 
nient distance, it halted, and Montezuma, descending 
from his litter, came forward, leaning on the arms of 
the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan, his nephew 
and brother, both of whom, as we have seen, had 
already been known to the Spaniards. As the mon- 
arch advanced under the canopy, the obsequious 
attendants strewed the ground with cotton tapestry, 
that his imperial feet might not be contaminated by 
the rude soil. His subjects, of high and low degree, 
who lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward, 
with their eyes fastened on the ground as he passed, 
and some of the humbler class prostrated themselves 
before him. Such was the homage paid to the Indian 
despot, showing that the slavish forms of Oriental 
adulation were to be found among the rude inhabitants 
of the Western World. 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 13 

" Montezuma wore the girdle and ample square cloak, 
tilmatti, of his nation. It was made of the finest cot- 
ton, with the embroidered ends gathered in a knot 
around his back. His feet were defended by sandals 
having soles of gold, and the leather thongs which 
bound them to his ankles were embossed with the 
same metal. Both the cloak and sandals were sprin- 
kled with pearls and precious stones, among which the 
emerald and the ckalchivitl — a green stone, of higher 
estimation than any other among the Aztecs — were 
conspicuous. On his head he wore no other orna- 
ment than a panache of plumes of the royal green, 
which floated down his back, the badge of military, 
rather than of regal rank. 

"He was at this time about forty years of age. His 
person was tall and thin, but not ill-made. His hair, 
which was black and straight, was not very long : to 
wear it short was considered unbecoming persons of 
rank. His head was thin ; his complexion somewhat 
paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather copper- 
colored, race. His features, though serious in their 
expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, 
indeed, of dejection, which characterizes his portrait, 
and which may well have settled on them at a later 
period. He moved with dignity, and his whole de- 
meanor, tempered by an expression of benignity, not 
to have been anticipated from the reports circulated 
of his character, was worthy of a great prince." 

The taste for display was by no means confined to 
the monarch, for it was visible in the dress of all 
ranks. 

v.— 2 



14 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 




House of the better class. 

Dwellings. — The Mexicans affirmed that when they 
first came to inhabit their country, they used no other 
materials for building houses than mud and reeds; 
but success attending their efforts, they built a better 
city, of good houses, principally of stone and lime, two 
stories high. Each house had a hall and a large court- 
yard. The chambers were well arranged ; the floors 
were of plaster, perfectly level and smooth; and the 
roofs flat and round. The best houses had terraced 
walls, so white and shining, that they appeared at a 
distance to be of silver. Some houses had gardens with 
fish-ponds and walks symmetrically laid out. The 
larger ones had, likewise, two entrances, the principal 
one opening to the street and the other towards the 
water. Pietro Martin says, " The doors of their 
houses and chambers were full of diverse kindes of 
shells hanging loose by small cordes; that, being 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 15 

shaken by the wind, they make a certaine ratteling 
and also a whisteling noise, by gathering the wind in 
their hollow places ; for herein they have great de- 
light, and impute this for a goodly ornament." 

In describing the habitations of the common peo- 
ple, we may also use the quaint language of Pietro. 
" They are made round like bells; their frame is 
raised of exceeding high trees, set close together and 
fast rampaired in the ground, so standing aslope and 
bending inward that the toppes of the trees joyne to- 
gether and bear one against another ; having also with- 
in the house certain strong and short proppes or posts, 
which sustayne the trees from falling. They cover 
them with the leaves of date trees strongly compact 
and hardened, wherewith they make them close from 
winde and weather. At the short posts, or proppes, 
within the house, they tie ropes of the cotton of gos- 
sampine trees, or other ropes made of certain long and 
rough roots ; these they tie athwart the house from 
post to post. On these they lay, as it were, certain 
mattresses made of the cotton of gossampine trees, 
which grow plentifully in these lands, — and thus they 
sleepe in hanging beds." 

Like the rudest Indians, several families often resi- 
ded under the same roof, without having any separate 
apartments. The common people, like most inhabi- 
tants of hot countries, appear to have been little soli- 
citous about thei:: habitations, often taking shelter 
from the sun under thick trees, and forming a shed 
with their branches and leaves. 

Upon the Lake of Mexico they had floating islets, 
with dwelling huts upon them, which were moved 



16 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



from bay to bay, as the inhabitants required sunshine 
or shelter. The dwellings of the cities will be more 
particularly described hereafter. 

Food and Drink. — The Mexicans raised maize, or 
Indian corn, for food, and used the manioc, which 
grows to the size of a large shrub, with roots like the 
parsnip. After carefully squeezing out the juice, these 
roots were grated down to a fine powder and made 
into thin cakes, which were called cassada bread. 
As the juice of the manioc is a poison, it has occasioned 
no little surprise that the Indians could convert it into 
nutritious food. The potato was common, and roasted 







The Pimento or Allspice tree. 
plantain supplied the place of bread. A favorite sea« 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 17 

soning for everything was the pimento, which yields 
an aromatic spice, and was almost deemed an elixir of 
life. Chocolate was of universal consumption, and 
the favorite drink of persons in every rank of life. 

Pulque, which is the fermented juice of the mag- 
uey, and is still used as a beverage in Mexico, was a 
common drink at their feasts. It is slightly intoxi- 
cating, and was sometimes taken to excess by the elder 
guests. Intemperance in the young was severely 
punished. 

Hunting and fishing likewise supplied them with 
food; but a staple article was the flesh of their enemies 
taken in war, which they devoured with a rapacity 
equal to the most ferocious savages. It furnished the 
supply at their feasts, and was eaten raw. At other 
times the flesh of their enemies was salted and pre- 
served, and presented to their nearest friends. 

At their entertainments, their table was well pro- 
vided with substantial meats and game, especially 
the turkey, which was abundant. They had vari- 
ous dishes of vegetables, and many delicious fruits. 
Their viands were prepared with delicate sauces and 
seasoning. The palate was also regaled by confec- 
tions and pastries, for which sugar and the flour of 
maize supplied ample materials. At celebrations the 
flesh of a slave sacrificed for the purpose, and dressed 
with epicurean skill, formed a favorite embellishment 
of the feast. 

The meats were kept warm by chafing-dishes, and 

the table was ornamented with delicately wrought 

ware of silver and gold. They had drinking cups 

and spoons of the same materials, and also of tortoise 

b 2* 



18 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

shell. They not only used chocolate, or chocolatl y fla- 
vored with vanilla and different spices, as a drink, but 
the froth was converted into a solid form and eaten 
cold. The fermented juice of the maguey, in various 
forms, was the chief drink of the elder guests. The 
feast was closed by dancing, accompanied with plain- 
tive music. 

The women shared in these entertainments, which 
were often conducted on a magnificent scale. The 
guests were served by numerous attendants of both 
sexes. The halls were scented with perfumes, the 
courts strewed with fragrant flowers and plants, and 
rich bouquets were handed to the guests as they 
arrived. The ceremony of ablution was performed 
before and after eating ; cotton napkins and covers of 
water being placed for the purpose. 

After the meal, tobacco, mixed with aromatic sub- 
stances, was provided, either in pipes or in cigars, 
furnished with tubes of tortoise-shell or silver. 
"Whether the women partook of this indulgence, as is 
now the custom in Mexico, we are not told. It ap- 
pears that they were accustomed to use tobacco in 
the form of snuff. 

Travelling. — Their mode of travelling by land 
was on foot, for they had no domestic quadrupeds, and 
by water, in canoes, with which they could easily 
ascend rivers against the rapidity of the stream. So 
inured were they to this labor, that no crew of white 
people could equal them. 

Amusements. — The dance was their serious occu- 
pation, as well as their favorite amusement, and seems 
to have accompanied all their important dealings with 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 19 

each, other. If an Indian came with an emblem of 
peace, he must approach with a solemn dance, while 
the caciques received him in the same manner. If war 
was denounced against an enemy, a dance expressed 
their resentment. If the wrath of the gods was to be 
appeased, or their beneficence celebrated, they danced. 
Rejoicing at the birth of a child, or mourning for its 
death, had both their appropriate dances : — nor were 
the sick and dying free from these tumults, for if una- 
ble themselves to join in the dance, their physician 
or conjurer performed the ceremony around them. 
While to the Spaniards their music seemed simple 
and monotonous, to the Mexicans it was in the high- 
est degree inspiring and animating. 

Their war-dance was a complete pantomime of their 
campaigns. It represented the solemn departure from 
their homes, — their steady march upon the enemy,— 
their caution in encamping, — their skill in stationing 
their party in ambush, and their manner of surprising 
and rushing on the foe. Then succeeded the strug- 
gle of the combat. — -the seizing of the prisoners, — 
the triumphant return, and the unrelenting torture 
of their victims. Into this sport they entered with 
such wild enthusiasm, such vehement gestures and 
terrific countenances, that the Europeans could scarce 
believe it a mimic scene, or view it without emotions 
of fear and horror. 

They engaged in games of hazard with great eager- 
ness, as did the whole Indian nation; while thus 
employed they became rapacious, noisy and almost 
frantic. They would stake all they possessed, and 
even their personal liberty, on a single cast of the 



20 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

die. Southey gives the following description of the 
amusement called the Flyers, founded on the account 
furnished by Clavigero. 

" Bat now a shout went forth ; the Flyers mount, 
And from all meaner sports the multitude 
Flock to their favorite pastime. In the ground, 
Branchless and bark'd, the trunk of some tall pine 
Is planted ; near its summit a square frame. 
Four cords pass through the perforated square 
And fifty times and twice around the tree, 
A mystic number, are entwined above. 
Four Aztecas, equipped with wings, ascend, 
And round them bind the ropes ; anon they wave 
Their pinions, and upborne on spreading plumes, 
Launch on the air and wheel in circling flight, 
The lengthening cords untwisting as they fly. 
A fifth above, upon the perilous point 
Dances and shakes a flag ; and on the frame 
Others the while maintain their giddy stand, 
Till now with many a round the wheeling cords 
Draw near their utmost length, and toward the ground 
The aerial circles speed ; then down the ropes 
They spring, and on their way from line to line 
Pass, while the shouting multitude endure 
A shuddering admiration." 

Domestic Life. — Notwithstanding the atrocious 
customs which we find among these ancient Mexi- 
cans, we shall find many pleasing traits in the picture 
of their domestic life. The women were handsome, 
possessing a serious and somewhat melancholy cast 
of countenance. They were treated with kindness 
by their husbands, spending their time in indolent 
repose, or the feminine occupations of spinning and 
embroidery. The maidens beguiled the hours by the 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 21 

rehearsal of traditionary tales and ballads. The dis- 
cipline of children was severe, especially at the schools. 
When arrived at maturity, the girls were treated with 
great tenderness by their parents. They counselled 
them to preserve neatness of attire, personal cleanliness, 
simplicity of manners, and innocence in conversation. 
They inculcated modesty as the chief ornament of the 
sex, and enjoined implicit reverence for their husbands. 
They were accustomed to soften their counsel by 
many epithets of endearment, displaying the fulness 
of parental affection. 

There appears to have been much kindly inter- 
course in society. They consoled their friends in 
moments of affliction, and congratulated them upon 
the occasions of marriages, births and baptisms, ac- 
companying these attentions with costly presents of 
dresses and ornaments, or groups of chosen flowers. 
Ceremonial visits were regulated with Oriental pre- 
cision, and embellished with many expressions of 
esteem and affection. 

Tools and Instruments. — Among the instruments 
used by the Mexicans were hatchets of stone, shell, 
and bone. With these they not only formed their 
necessary utensils, but other works of art. Cold 
and phlegmatic in temperament, they would return to 
their task day after day, with the most tedious method, 
— and " the work of an Indian," was a phrase used 
among the Spaniards, when they wished to describe 
anything by which long time had been employed and 
much labor wasted. 

They were well acquainted with the mineral trea- 
sures of their kingdom ; not only silver and gold, but 



22 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

lead, tin and copper were in use. They had mines in 
the solid rock where they opened extensive galleries. 
As a substitute for iron, the use of which was un- 
known, they used an alloy of tin and copper. Of this 
bronze they made tools, with which they cut metals ; 
and by the aid of a silicious dust, they even wrought 
porphyry. They cast vessels of gold and silver, and 
chased them in a delicate manner with their metallic 
chisels. Some of their silver vases were so large, 
that a man could not encompass them with his arms. 
They possessed the wonderful art of so mixing their 
metals, that the feathers of a bird or the scales of a 
fish would be alternately of gold and silver. No 
European artizan could equal them in these delicate 
manufactures. An important cutting instrument was 
made of itzli, or obsidian, a hard, transparent min- 
eral, abundant in their hills. With this they wrought 
stone and alabasters for their public works. Of the 
same material they made knives, razors and serrated 
swords ; also mirrors, which were sometimes set in 
gold. 

Painting, Sculpture, &c— Painting was greatly 
used among the Mexicans, an art derived from the 
Toltecas, In a volume preserved in the library at 
Bologna, there are particular historical events in their 
paintings, codes of laws, civil and religious, andrecords 
chronological, astronomical and astrological, together 
with their calendar, the position of the stars, changes of 
the moon, eclipses, and prognostications of the weather ; 
they painted, also, images of their gods and heroes. 
These the Spaniards regarded as emblems of heathen 
worship, and burned such as they found. They like- 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



23 



wise painted the geographical extent of their bounda- 
ries and possessions, the situation of places, and direc- 
tion of the coast, and the course of rivers. 




Mexican Painting. 
Cortes says, in his first letter to Charles 5th, that 
Montezuma presented him with a painting which re- 
presented the whole of the coast, from Vera Cruz to the 
river Coatzacualco. Their chief school for painting 
was at Tezueca, and the paintings were " all collected 
there in such a mass, that it resembled a little moun- 
tain," to which, unfortunately for the cause of knowl- 
edge, the Spaniards set fire. Had they preserved these 
records, they would have formed a complete history? 
since everything was delineated by painting. This 
was an inexpressible grief to the Indians, and even 



24 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

to the Spaniards when they knew their error. They 
afterwards endeavored to collect paintings from every 
quarter ; but it will be readily believed that the Indi- 
ans concealed their labor of years, and no inducement 
could tempt them to part with them. 

Humboldt furnishes us with a copy of a Mexican 
painting, which is supposed to represent the story of 
Adam and Eve, — derived from the traditions of the 
fathers of the race. The preceding cut is a copy of 
this curious relic. The serpent is supposed to be 
tempting Eve; the figures at the right, to represent 
Cain and Abel, and those at the left, their two altars. 

They painted on cloth, made of thread from the 
aloe or palm, and on sheepskin, as well as on paper 
made of the leaves of the aloe, steeped like hemp, and 
afterwards stretched and smoothed. Their colors were 
very beautiful, being extracted from wood, leaves, 
flowers, and various animal substances. Their paint- 
ers knew little of the distribution of light and shade; 
but the proportions were accurately observed, and as 
the pictures were generally made in haste, sometimes 
parts of objects only, but such as might be easily 
understood, were portrayed. 

The Mexicans had arrived at greater perfection in 
sculpture, casting metals and in mosaics than even in 
their painting. The aspect of their graven images strong- 
ly reminds us of similar antiquities in Egypt. The 
engraving upon the next page represents one of these. 

After their conquest of the country, the Mexicans 
made idols in honor of the gods who had given them 
success. As the arts progressed these were formed 
of stone and wood ; every attitude of which the hu- 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 25 

man body was capable was expressed, and e very- 
obstacle was surmounted by these phlegmatic people 
in working stone by the use of the chisel. Acosta 




mentions with praise, two statues, one of Montezuma, 
the other of his son, cut in basso relievo. They were 
nearly as large as their idols, and the first church in 
Mexico had its foundation laid from these statues. 

The entrances and angles of the edifices of Mexico, 
were profusely ornamented with carved images of 
animals and fantastic deities. Sculptured images 
were exceedingly numerous, and a cellar can hardly 
be dug in the present city of Mexico, without turning 
up some of these relics of barbarian art. Specimens 
v,— 3 



26 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

of these lie scattered about the town, and obtain 
little respect from civilized man. The two celebrated 
reliefs of the last Montezuma and his father, cut in 
the solid rock, in the grove of Chapoltepec^ were delib- 
erately destroyed by the order of government, within 
the last century. 

The most remarkable piece of sculpture is the 
great calendar stone disinterred in the great square of 
Mexico, in 1790. It consists of dark porphyry, and 
when taken from the quarry, weighed about fifty tons. 
It was transported from the mountains, for many 
leagues over a hilly country, intersected by rivers, 
lakes and canals. In crossing a bridge it was precip- 
itated into the water, and recovered with difficulty. 
The transportation of so enormous a fragment, in the 
face of such obstacles, and without the use of cattle* 
suggests no mean ideas of the mechanical skill to 
which these people had arrived. 

They excelled, likewise, in metal castings, and 
also made images of gold and silver, parrots with 
movable heads, tongues and wings, and movable 
apes. In short, says one author, the works were so 
admirably finished, that even the Spaniards, who 
thirsted for gold, thought more of the workmanship 
than of the gems and the gold and silver of which 
they were made. So debased and indolent, however, 
did the Indians become, after their conquest by the 
Spaniards, that it would now be easier to find some 
specimens of their ancient art in the cabinets of Eu- 
rope, than in Mexico. 

But of all their works of art, the most curious were 
their mosaics in feathers. On this art they highly 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 27 

valued themselves ; and for this purpose they reared 
gTeat numbers of birds of fine plumage. The execu- 
tion of this species of mosaic is thus described. 

" In undertaking a work of this kind, several artists 
assembled, and after agreeing upon the design, they 
fix upon the proportions, and each artist has some 
particular part of the image assigned to him, and so 
diligently did he exert himself, that frequently a 
whole day would be spent in the adjustment of a sin- 
gle feather, first trying one and then another, viewing 
it sometimes in one way and then another, until one 
was found that gave his part the ideal perfection pro- 
posed. When each artist had completed his part, they 
assembled to form the entire image, and if any part 
happened to be deranged, it was wrought again, till 
perfectly finished. They laid hold of the feathers 
with small pincers, which did not injure them in the 
least; they were pasted on cloth by some glutinous 
matter, and united at all points upon plate or copper ; 
the feathers were then flattened gently, until the 
surface was so equal and smooth that it appeared to 
be the work of a pencil. It was wonderful indeed to 
see feathers producing the effect of the pencil, and far 
surpassing it in colors ; a side appearance was so 
beautiful, so lively, and so animated, that it gave de- 
light to the sight, and rivalled the best paintings of 
Spain," This art lingered after the conquest, and 
persons could still be found, who could copy a painting 
in feathers with wonderful exactness. The last cele- 
brated artist in this way, was Payanam, but he died 
in 1800, and the art has perished with him. 

There was also, a kind of mosaic in shells, which 



28 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

is still wrought in Guatimala. Imitations of mosaic 
were also made of flowers and leaves, upon mats, 
which were used at festivals. These continued to be 
made, and were eagerly sought after by the Spanish 
nobility, who settled in the country. Some workmen 
skilfully imitated with silk the Mexican mosaic in 
feathers ; but the latter was always preferred as the 
most brilliant and beautiful. 

The arts of cutting and polishing stones and gems, 
as we have stated, were well understood. The gems 
in use then, were the emerald, amethyst, carnelian and 
turquoise. The emerald was so common, as to be 
little valued by the rich ; even the common people had 
them attached to their lips when dead, to serve in the 
other world in place of a heart. 

When Cortes first returned to Spain, he carried 
with him five emeralds which the jewellers valued at 
100,000 ducats ; the first was in the form of a rose, 
the second of a horn, the third of a little fish with 
eyes of gold, the fourth in the form of a bell, with a 
fine pearl for its clapper ; the fifth was a small cup, 
with a foot of gold, and four little golden chains uni- 
ted in a pearl in the form of a button. For this alone 
the Genoese offered 40,000 ducats, in order to sell 
again to the Grand Seignor ; besides these, there 
were two emerald vases valued at 300,000 ducats, 
which were lost by shipwreck in an expedition of 
Charles 5th, against Algiers. 

There are no gems of such value found or wrought 
at the present day, nor is it known where the emerald 
mines were. There are still extant some masses 
of this precious stone ; among which are two of great 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 29 

value in the churches, which the priests secure with 
iron chains. 

Pietro Martin says, that " among the presents which 
Cortes sent to Spain, were two helmets covered with 
blue precious stones, one edged with golden belles and 
many plates of gold, two golden knobbes sustaining 
the belies. The other covered with the same stones, 
but edged with 25 golden belles crested with a greene 
foule sitting on the top of the helmet, whose feet, bill 
and eyes were all of gold and several golden knobbes 
sustained every bell." 

Manufactures. — The manufacture of cloths of 
various kinds was generally known and extensively 
practised. Cotton, silk, hemp, hair and other materials 
were used in their fabrics, but no wool. In weaving 
hammocks, coverlets and other coarse cloth, they were 
accustomed to take up thread after thread, and after 
counting and sorting them, each time to pass the warp 
between them; so that in finishing a small piece of 
these stuffs, they frequently spent more than two 
years. 

Lint and hemp were made from the fibrous part of 
the leaves of the aloe. This thread was sometimes 
of great fineness. The above materials were often 
mixed with fine down from the bellies of rabbits and 
hares, and spun into thread. Beautiful cloths and 
winter w T aistcoats for their lords, were made in this 
manner, 

Their cotton manufactures were equal to any in 

Europe at that time. Of feathers interwoven with 

cotton, they made mantles, bed-curtains, carpets and 

gowns, exceedingly beautiful. Such garments are 

3* 



30 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

not now to be found, unless in a few instances among 
the wealthy nobles. 

They manufactured various utensils of earthen 
ware for the common purposes of domestic life. They 
formed caps and vases of lacquered wood, gaily col- 
ored. The cochineal was first used by them, and 
introduced from Mexico into Europe. They had 
plantations carefully cultivated, where the little insect 
that furnishes this brilliant dye, was produced and 
nourished. The colors imparted to their cloths were 
exceedingly brilliant. 

The Mexicans understood the construction of arches 
and vaults, and there remain buildings with cornices 
and other ornaments, square and cylindrical columns 
adorned with figures in basso relievo ; it was their 
great ambition to use stone in architecture. 

Among their most remarkable works were two 
aqueducts which conveyed water to the capital, 
a distance of two miles. These were constructed 
with stone and cemented — two feet high and two 
paces broad — upon a road prepared for that purpose. 

Religion. — It has been justly said that " the aspect 
of superstition in Mexico was gloomy and atrocious, 
its divinities were clothed with terror, and delighted in 
vengeance." They were exhibited to the people under 
detestable forms which excited horror. The figures 
of serpents, tigers and other destructive animals, 
decorated their temples. Fear was the only principle 
that inspired their votaries. Fasts, mortifications and 
penances, all rigid, and many of them excruciating to 
an extreme degree, were the means employed to 
appease the wrath of their gods. The Mexicans 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 31 

never approached their altars without sprinkling them 
with blood drawn from their own bodies. 

But of all offerings, human sacrifices were deemed 
most acceptable. This religious belief mingling with 
the implacable spirit of vengeance and adding new 
force to it, every captive taken in war was brought to 
the temple and devoted as a victim to the deity, and 
sacrificed with rites no less solemn than cruel. The 
head and heart were the portion consecrated to the 
gods ; the warrior by whose prowess the prisoner had 
been seized, carried ofTthe body to feast upon it with 
his friends. Under the impression of ideas so dreary 
and terrible, and accustomed daily to scenes of blood- 
shed, rendered awful by religion, it would seem that 
the heart of man must be hardened and steeled to 
every sentiment of humanity. Yet, we have already 
shown, that, however unfeeling towards their enemies, 
among themselves many gentle sentiments survived 
the influence of their atrocious superstitions. 

Why it was that religion assumed such a dread- 
ful form among the Mexicans, we have not sufficient 
knowledge of their history to determine. But its 
influence was visible, and produced an effect that is 
singular in the human species. The manners of the 
people of the New World who had made the greatest 
progress in the arts, and who possessed many gentler 
impulses, were in several respects the most barbarous 
that have been known, and some of their customs 
exceeded, in this respect, even those of the savage 
state. 

The Mexicans had some idea, though an imperfect 
one, of a supreme, absolute and independent being, 



32 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

They represented him in no external form, because 
they believed him to be invisible; and they named 
him only by the common appellation of God, or in 
their language Teotl. They applied to him certain 
epithets which were highly expressive of the grandeur 
and power which they conceived him to possess ; Ipal- 
nemoani,,"He by whom we live," and'Tloque Nahu- 
aque, " He who has all in himself." 

They distinguished three places for the souls" when 
separated from the body. Those of soldiers who died 
in battle or in captivity among their enemies, and 
those of women who died in childbirth, went to the 
house of the sun, — whom the Mexicans considered 
as the prince of glory. Here they led a life of endless 
delight. Every day at the first appearance of the 
sun's rays the former hailed his birth with rejoicings; 
and with music of instruments and voices, attended 
him to his meridian. They were then met by the 
souls of the women, and with the same festivity he 
was accompanied to his setting. And it was supposed 
that after spending four years in this way, these spir- 
its went to animate the clouds or birds of beautiful 
feathers and sweet song ; these being always at liberty 
to rise to heaven or descend upon the earth, to warble 
and feast upon the flowers. 

The souls of persons who were drowned or struck 
by lightning, or who died of wounds, dropsy, tumors 
and other similar diseases, went with the souls of 
children, especially those which were sacrificed to 
Tlaloc, the god of water, — to a cool and delightful 
place called Tlalocan, where that god resided. Here 
they enjoyed the most delicious repasts, with every 
other kind of pleasure. 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 33 

The third place was regarded as the residence of 
the souls of all others, and was called Mictlan, which 
was deemed a place of utter darkness, in which reigned 
a god called Mictlantenetli, Lord of Hell, and a god- 
dess named Mictlancihuatl. 

The Tlascalans believed that the souls of chiefs and 
princes became clouds, or beautiful birds, or precious 
stones, whereas those of the common people would 
pass into beetles, rats, mice, weasels and other vile and 
disgusting animals. 

There were three yearly sacrifices to Tlaloc. At 
the first, two children were drowned in the Lake of 
Mexico, but in all the mountainous districts, they were 
sacrificed on the mountains, in which case their bodies 
were preserved in a stone chest. At the second sacri- 
fice, four children, from six to seven years of age, who 
were bought by the chiefs for that purpose, were shut 
up in a cavern and left to die of hunger; the cavern 
was not opened till the next year's sacrifice. Of this 
horrid custom Southey gives a touching description. 

" Half way up 
A cavern pierced the rock, no human foot 
Had trod its depths, nor ever sunbeam reached 
Its long recesses and mysterious gloom. 
To Tlaloc it was hallowed ; and the stone 
Which closed its entrance never was removed, 
Save when the yearly festival returned, 
And in its womb a child was sepulchred, 
The living victim. Up the winding path 
That to the entrance of the cavern led, 
With many a painful step the train ascend, 
But many a time upon that long ascent 
Young Hoel would have paused^ with weariness 
G 



34 THE MEXICAN INDIANS, 

Exhausted now. They urge him on, — poor child! 
They urge him on ! * * * 

Oh better had he lived 
Unknowing and unknown on Arvon's plain, 
And trod upon his noble father's grave, 
"With peasant feet unconcious ! They have reached 
The cavern now, and from its mouth the priests 
Roll the huge portal. — Thitherward they force 
The son of Llaian. A cold air comes out ; 
It chills him and his feet recoil ; — in vain 
His feet recoil ; — in vain he turns to fly, 
Affrighted at the sudden gloom that spreads 
Around ; — the den is closed, and he is left 
In solitude and darkness, — left to die! " 

The third sacrifice continued for the three rainy 
months, during which time, children were offered 
up on the mountains. The heart and blood of these 
were used in sacrifice, while the bodies were feasted 
upon by the chiefs and priests. 

The latter wore large white garments like surplices, 
with hoods, and after a sacrifice they might be seen 
with their long matted hair dabbled with blood. 
They were themselves subjected to painful ceremo- 
nies, and the Chololtecas performed the most severe 
penances every four years. All the priests sat round 
the walls of the temple holding censers in their hands ; 
from this posture they were not permitted to move, 
except when they went out from necessity. They 
might sleep two hours at the beginning of the night, 
and one hour after sunrise ; at midnight they bathed, 
smeared themselves with a black unction and pricked 
their ears to obtain blood for an offering; the twenty- 
one remaining hours they sat in the same posture offer- 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 35 

ing incense to the idol, and occasionally snatching a 
little sleep. These performances continued for sixty- 
days ; if any one of the priests slept beyond his time, 
his companions pricked him. After the sixty days, the 
ceremony continued twenty more, though with miti- 
gations of these severe duties. 

Historians differ much as to the number of human 
sacrifices yearly offered, but the smallest number 
given is very great. On the death of a cacique or 
any one distinguished among them, a certain num- 
ber of his attendants were put to death, that he might 
have them to administer to him in another world, 
This sacrifice was deemed so great an honor, that 
many offered themselves as victims for the purpose, 
Tlalocatecuhtli, the god of the waters and lord of 
Paradise, as he was called, was the oldest among their 
gods. His image was that of a man sitting on a 
square seat, with a vessel before him, in which were 
specimens of all the grains and fruit in the country, 
to be offered to him. This image consisted of a kind 
of pumice stone found on the mountains. One of 
the kings of Tezcuco ordered a better idol to be made, 
which was destroyed by lightning, and the old one was 
brought back again, but one of his arms being broken 
in the removal, it was fastened on with three golden 
nails. In the time of bishop Zumarraga the golden 
nails were taken away and the idol destroyed. This 
god of the waters was said to dwell among the moun- 
tains, where he collected the vapors and dispensed 
them in rain and dew. A number of inferior deities 
were at his command. 

The cave of Mistecas was sacred to this god, but its 



36 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

mouth was known only to a few. In entering, it 
was necessary to crawl for a hundred paces ; the way 
was then intricate for a mile. At last the passage 
terminated in the great dome, 70 feet long and 40 
wide, where was an idol formed of incrustations by 
a spring of petrifying water. Many persons perished 
in attempting to find this cave. A Spanish friar dis- 
covered the idol and destroyed it, filling up the 
entrance. 

Quetzalcoatl^ was the god of the winds. " His 
temple was circular; for as the ayre goeth rounde about 
the heavens, even for that consideration, they made his 
temple rounde. The entrance of that temple had a dore 
made lyke unto the mouth of a serpent, and was paynt- 
ed with foule and divilish gestures, with great teeth 
and gummes wrought, which was a thing to feare those 
that should enter thereat, and especially the Chris- 
tians, unto whom it represented very hell with that 
ougly face and monsterous teeth." 

Mexitli was another Mexican deity, from whom 
the nation took their name. They had a tradition 
that during their emigration he was carried before 
them in a seat called "the chair of God." There 
was a temple consecrated to him, " the floor of which," 
says Bernal Diaz, who was an eye-witness, "was 
flaked with blood and filled with a putrid stench." 

The great temple of Mexico was a huge square 
mound, and was called the great Cu. It had 114 
steps to the summit. That at Tezcuco had 115 steps. 
That at Cholula, 120. Gold and jewels, and the 
different seeds of the country were thrown in when 

# See " Lives of Celebrated Indians." 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 37 

the foundations of the temple of Mexico were laid. 
When it was afterwards levelled by the Spaniards, to 
make room for a church, these treasures were found. 

It is related by Bernal Diaz, " that they had in their 
temple an exceeding large drum, and when they beat 
it the sound was such, and so dismal, that it was like 
an instrument of hell, and was heard for more than two 
leagues round. They said that the cover of that drum 
was made of the skin of huge serpents." He also gives 
a terrific account of their temple serpents. "The 
head of a sacrificed person was strung up ; the limbs 
eaten at the feast; the body given to the wild beasts 
which were kept within the temple circuits; moreover, 
in that accursed house they kept vipers and venomous 
snakes, who had something at their tails, which 
sounded like morris bells, and they are the worst of 
all vipers; these were kept in cradles and barrels and 
earthen vessels, upon feathers, and there they laid 
their eggs and nursed up their snakelings, and there 
they were fed with the bodies of the sacrificed and 
with dogs' flesh. We learnt for certain, that after 
they had driven us from Mexico and slain above 8-50 
of our soldiers and of the men of Narvaez, to be 
offered to their cruel idol, these beasts and snakes were 
supported upon their bodies for many days. When 
the lions and tigers roared, and the jackalls and foxes 
howled and the snakes hissed, it was a grim thing to 
hear them and it seemed like hell." 

Before the Mexican temples were large courts, 

kept neat and clean, and planted with trees which 

were green throughout the year. These bestowed a 

pleasant shade, and here the priests sat and awaited 

v.-4 



33 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

those who came to make offerings and sacrifice to the 
idol. The mother of Mexitli was a mortal woman, 
but for her son's sake she was made immortal, and 
appointed goddess of all herbs, flowers and trees. 
The following was their tradition concerning her as 
given in the words of the poet Southey. 

" She at eve 
"Walked in the temple court, and saw from heaven 
A plume descend as bright and beautiful 
As if some spirit had embodied there 
The rainbow hues, or dipped it in the light of setting suns. 
To her it floated down, she placed it in her bosom, to bedeck 
The altar of the god. She sought it there ; 
Amazed she found it not, — amazed she felt 
Another life infused." 

In many of the religious rites and ceremonies of 
the ancient Mexicans, we see resemblances to those of 
the Greeks and Romans, the Mussulmans, the Tartars, 
and the Catholics ; but the most singular coincidence 
is that in their baptism. In naming their infant chil- 
dren, they sprinkled the lip and bosom with water, and 
the " Lord was implored to permit the holy drops to 
wash away the sin that was given before the founda- 
tion of the world — and that the child might be born 
anew !' 5 Their prayers, in which they used regular 
forms, also remind us of christian morals, in passages 
like these : " Wilt thou blot us out, Lord, forever ? 
Is thy punishment intended, not for our reformation, but 
our destruction ?" " Impart to us, out of thy great 
mercy, the gilts which we are not worthy to receive, 
through our own merits." " Keep peace with all : 
bear injuries with humility, for God, who sees, will 
avenge you." 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



39 



The influence of the priesthood was not only great, 
through the reverence they inspired, but also by their 
numbers. No less than 5000 were attached to the 
chief temple of the capital. 




War, &c. — It is not surprising from this view of 
their religion that the Mexicans should have been 
ferocious in war. The four most honorable titles among 
their soldiers were " The Tiger of the War," " Shed- 
der of Blood," " Destroyer of Men," and "Lord of 
the Dark House." 

Gomarra thus describes the Tlascalan army, which 
may also apply to the Mexican troops. "They were 
trimme fellow r es, and wel armed according to their 
use although they were paynted so that their faces 
shewed like divels with great tuffes of feathers and 
triumphed gallantly. They had also slinges, staves, 
spears, swordes, bowes and arrowes, skulles, splinters, 
gantlettes, all of wood, gilte, or else covered with 



40 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



feathers or leather ; their corslets were made of cotton 
woole, their targettes and bucklers, gallant and strong, 
made of woode covered with leather and trimmed with 
cotton and feathers ; theyr swordes were staves with 
an edge of flint stone, cunningly joyned into the staff 
which would cutte very well and make a sore wound. 




Theyr instruments of music were hunter's horns, and 
drummes called attabals made like a caldron and cov- 
ered with vellum." The dress of the higher warriors 
among the Mexicans, was picturesque, and sometimes 
magnificent. Their bodies were covered with a vest 
of thick quilted cotton, sufficient to resist the slight 
missiles of Indian warfare. This was found so ser- 
viceable as to be adopted by the Spaniards. The 
wealthier chiefs sometimes wore a cuirass of gold or 
silver, instead of this cotton quilt. Over this was 
thrown a garment made of the gorgeous feather-work 
which we have described. Their helmets were of 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS, 41 

wood, fashioned like the heads of wild animals, or of 
silver, on the top of which waved a bunch of plumes, 
sprinkled with precious stones and ornaments of gold. 
The armies of the country were formed into divisions 
of 8000 men, and these into companies of three or 
four hundred each with its own commander. 

The Tlaxcaltecas had two arrows which they regard- 
ed with great reverence and used as means of pre- 
dicting the event of a battle. Two of their bravest 
chiefs were to shoot them at the enemy and recover 
them, or die. If the arrows struck and killed or 
wounded, it was held to be an omen that the fight 
would be prosperous, but if they neither struck nor 
drew blood, the army retired. 

The national standard of Mexico exhibited the 
armorial ensigns of the state, wrought in gold and 
feathers. The companies and greater chiefs had also 
their particular banners. The army in marching thus 
gorgeously decorated, exhibited a splendid and daz- 
zling appearance to the beholder. The soldiers ad- 
vanced briskly to the attack, singing and shouting their 
war-cries. They often retreated, and returned again 
upon the enemy. They did not sustain a firm and 
regular charge, but were much addicted to ambuscades 
and sudden surprises. In marching, they moved for- 
ward gaily, but in good order. In battle, they sought 
rather to capture than to kill their enemies. They 
never scalped, like the northern tribes, and a warrior's 
valor was estimated only by the number of his pris- 
oners. 

Although their prisoners were not put to death with 
aggravated bodily torture, it was a refinement of cru- 
4* 



42 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

elty among them to attach them to life by feastings 
and caresses, with maidens to wait upon them, while 
their doom was irrevocable. At the day appointed for 
their death, they were despatched by a single blow. 
The people then feasted upon the bodies, and be- 
smeared their children with the blood of the slain to 
kindle in their bosoms hatred for their enemies. Some 
of the principal warriors covered themselves with the 
skins of the slain and danced before the people, exult- 
ing over their enemies. In some provinces they 
covered their drums with the skins of their captives, 
thinking that when the kindred of the slain heard 
the sound of these, they would immediately be seized 
with fear and take to flight. 

Their military code bore the same stern features as 
their other laws. Disobedience of orders, desertion 
of colors, attacking the enemy before the signal was 
given, and plunder of another's booty, were all pun- 
ished with death. We must not omit to mention their 
hospitals for the sick and wounded soldiers. These 
were established in the principal cities, and were 
attended by the ablest surgeons. It is remarkable to 
find such institutions in this country, long before they 
had been adopted in civilized Europe. 

Government.-— On the arrival of Cortes, Mexico 
was the leading power from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, exercising over the several states either a 
partial or complete dominion. Its government at that 
period was an elective monarchy, four principal nobles 
constituting the electors, and the choice being con- 
fined to the brothers or nephews of the last prince. 
The candidates received an education suited to their 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



43 




A Mexican chief, or cacique. 



royal dignity, and one who had distinguished himself 
in war was always preferred. 

The new monarch was installed with great parade 
and ceremony. The captives he had taken in war, 
graced his triumphal entry into the city, and furnished 
victims for the bloody rites which signalized his coro- 
nation. Amid the pomp of human sacrifices, a crown 
ornamented with gold, gems and feathers, was placed 
on his head by the lord of Tezcuco. He received the 
title of emperor to indicate his superiority, even over 
the confederate monarchies of Tlacopan and Tezcuco, 
The Aztec princes lived in a state of oriental pomp. 



44 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



They were attended by a numerous council, who aided 
the monarch in the transaction of business, and were 
surrounded by an extensive body guard, made up of 
the chief nobility. 

The people were divided into several orders. There 
was not only a class of nobles with large landed estates, 
but there were also chieftains, who held extensive estates 
and lived like independent princes on their own do- 
mains, and appear, like the feudatory barons of 
Europe in former days, to have held their privileges 
upon condition of rendering military services to the 
crown. It would seem that there were about thirty of 
these great caciques, each of whom could muster 
100,000 vassals. They were required to live at least 
a part of' the year in the capital. The legislative 
power resided wholly in the monarch, who held his 
office for life. Each city had a supreme judge, from 
whose decision there was no appeal. There were also 
inferior courts, of various degrees, and magistrates 
appointed to watch over the conduct of the people and 
report to the higher authorities. Every eighty years 
all the judges were assembled in the capital, for the 
final adjudication of important suits. Over this body 
the king presided in person. On the whole, justice 
appears to have been well administered, and we cannot 
but look with admiration upon many of the features 
which belong to the civil institutions of this people. 

Corruption in a judge was punished with death. 
At his trial, the king presided. The proceedings in 
the courts were conducted with decency and order. 
No counsel was employed, the parties managing their 
own case. The oath of both plaintiff and defendant 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 45 

was admitted in evidence. After the testimony was 
given in, the whole case was laid before the court, by 
the clerk, in emblematic paintings. These were exe- 
cuted with such precision and fidelity that in suits 
respecting real estate, they were long after produced 
as good authority in the Spanish tribunals. When a 
sentence of death was decreed by the court, it was 
recorded by a portrait of the convict with an arrow 
drawn across it. 

The laws of the Aztecs were registered and exhib- 
ited to the people in hieroglyphical paintings. All 
the great crimes against society were capital. Mur- 
der even of a slave was punished with death. Adul- 
terers, as among the Jews, were stoned. The pun- 
ishment of thievery was slavery or death. Prodigality, 
intemperance, and various other misdemeanors, were 
visited with the severest penalties. 

The marriage rites were celebrated with great for- 
mality, and the institution was held in equal reverence. 
Prisoners taken in war were reserved for sacrifice. 
Criminals and public debtors were made slaves. Per- 
sons in extreme poverty sold themselves and even 
their children into slavery. The services exacted from 
the slave were limited. He was permitted to have his 
own family, to hold property, and even other slaves. 
His children were free — a favorable distinction known 
in no civilized land where slavery is permitted. 

The royal revenues were derived from crown lands, 
which were extensive, and taxes upon the agricultural 
and manufacturing products, which were paid in kind. 
Among the articles received by the king, were cotton 
dresses, mantles of feather-work, ornamented armor, 



46 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

gold dust, bands and bracelets, jars and goblets, bells, 
arrows, paper, grain, fruits, copal, amber, cochineal, 
cacao, birds, wild animals, timber, lime, mats, &c. 
The more wealthy chiefs were also required to pay 
various kinds of tribute. 

Garrisons were established in the larger cities, and 
tax-gatherers were distributed throughout the king- 
dom. Couriers conveyed information from one ex- 
tremity of the country to the other : there were post- 
houses on the great roads, at convenient distances. 
The courier bore his hieroglyphic despatches from one 
to another of these. Here it was taken by another 
messenger, and thus it was conveyed to its destination." 
These couriers, trained from childhood, ran with 
incredible swiftness — sometimes twelve or fifteen miles 
an hour. We are told that despatches were carried 
200 miles in a day. 

The profession of arms ranked with that of the 
priesthood. There were various military orders, and 
an inferior kind of knighthood. Questions of war 
were discussed in a council by the king and his chief 
nobles. Ambassadors were every where entertained 
at the public charge, and their persons held sacred. 
Eeligion was an institution of state. The temples 
and the priesthood were sustained by the government. 
There were extensive church-lands, throughout every 
district of the empire. This property was managed 
by the priests, who also received rich gifts dictated by 
superstition. The excess beyond what was required 
by the priesthood, was distributed among the poor. 
Thus we see in the Mexican religion, the most contra- 
dictory qualities ; a gentle charity, dispensing its 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 47 

blessings to the unfortunate, with the superstition 
which delighted in the revolting spectacle of human 
sacrifices. 

Education. — This subject appears to have received 
great attention among the Mexicans. The children 
of both sexes were placed under the care of the priest- 
hood at an early age. Buildings within the enclosures 
of the temples were provided for their accommodation. 
Under the care of priests the boys were drilled in the 
routine of monastic discipline. They decorated the 
altars of the gods with flowers, fed the sacred fires 
and took part in the religious chants and festivals. 
Those in the higher school were taught the traditions 
of the country; hieroglyphics, government, astronomy 
and natural science. 

The girls, intrusted to the care of priestesses, 
learned to weave and embroider coverings for the 
altars and other feminine duties. The utmost deco- 
rum prevailed, and offences were rigorously punished. 
Fear, not love, was the inspiring principle of educa- 
tion in these institutions. 

Such was the training of the higher and middling 
classes, at institutions of a monastic character, the 
purpose and tendency of which, was to establish a 
reverence for the religion of the country in the minds 
of the leading people. At the age of maturity, the 
pupils were dismissed with much ceremony from the 
convent, and the recommendation of the principal, 
often introduced them to important stations. 

In respect to the children of other classes, it may 
be stated, generally, that parents are said to have been 
indefatigable in teaching their children the history of 



48 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



their nation, and to have made them learn speeches, 
discourses and songs relating to it. Picture-writing 
was their mode of recording history, and their tradi- 
tions explained the hieroglyphical representations, 
which would otherwise have been unintelligible. In 
this way were perpetuated the memorable deeds of 
heroes, striking examples of virtue, mythological rites, 
laws and customs. 



-^a 




Banana and cacao trees. 

Agriculture and Products. — Nearly all the North 
American tribes cultivated the soil to some extent. 
Wherever a small opening was found between the 
forests, they planted maize and beans ; yet their hus- 
bandry was slovenly in the extreme. It was other- 
wise in Mexico. For here agriculture had made the 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 49 

same advance as the other arts of life. It was indeed 
greatly respected, and was blended with the civil and 
religious institutions of the country. There were 
deities to preside over it, and festivals having refer- 
ence to it. Taxes were often paid in agricultural 
produce. All except the soldiers and great nobles 
toiled in the field ; the men performing the hard labor, 
and the women the lighter tasks, — as scattering the 
seed, husking the corn, &c. 

The grounds were tilled with judgment; the 
exhausted soil being permitted to lie fallow and the 
dry grounds irrigated by artificial canals. The de- 
struction of woods was severely punished, and ample 
granaries were provided for the harvest. 

Among their productions we may notice the exu- 
berant banana, the cacao, from which they made their 
chocolate, and the vanilla, with which they flavored 
their food and drink. Their great staple was the 
maize, of which they understood the manifold uses. 
It grew with great luxuriance, and from this instead 
of the cane they extracted their sugar. But "the 
miracle of nature," was the Mexican aloe or maguey, 
whose pyramids of flowers were seen spreading over 
many a broad acre in the country. " Never," says 
Mr. Prescott, " did nature enclose in so compact a 
form, so many of the elements of human comfort and 
civilization, as in this plant. It was meat, drink, 
clothing and writing material to the Mexicans. It 
afforded a paste of which their paper was made. Its 
fermented juice furnished pulque, their favorite bever- 
age. Its leaves supplied a thatch for their humbler 
dwellings. Thread and cord were made of its fibres. 
D v.— 5 



50 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

pins and needles of its thorns, and bread was formed 
of its roots." 

The Mexicans were well acquainted with the rich 
fruits and gorgeous flowers which belonged to their 
prolific climate. These were systematically arranged 
by the people, according to their qualities, and exten- 
sive nurseries existed for their cultivation. It is sup- 
posed that these suggested those " gardens of plants," 
which have been subsequently introduced into Europe. 

The Mexicans appear to have had great skill in 
horticulture, whether of the useful or ornamental kind. 
Around the margin of the Lake of Tezcuco, there 
were floating gardens, which particularly excited the 
admiration of the Spaniards. These consisted of 
scows or rafts, formed of reeds, rushes and other 
fibrous materials, firmly woven together, and covered 
with rich earth drawn up from the bottom of the lake. 
They were frequently two or three hundred feet long, 
and afforded a sufficient soil for raising flowers and 
vegetables for the market of the city, and even, in 
many cases, trees of considerable size grew upon them. 
Often, too, the Indian built his slight dwelling of reeds 
upon this floating territory, and here he lived with his 
family. If he desired to change his position, he was 
able to do it by pushing with a pole against the bottom 
of the shallow lake; and thus these gardens were 
often seen moving like enchanted islands over the 
level bosom of the water. As Cortes and his men 
approached the city of Mexico across the great dike 
that led through the lake from the south, they looked 
with mingled curiosity and amazement on these fairy 
islands, undulating with the tide, or gliding over its 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 51 

surface, and with their busy and thronging population, 
giving the whole scene an aspect of enchantment. 

Nor were the more sumptuous gardens of the rich 
objects of less interest and curiosity. Not only in the 
city of Mexico, but in other places, persons of wealth 
appear to have taken great delight in surrounding 
their dwellings with the choicest products of the vege- 
table kingdom. On approaching Mexico, Cortes and 
his army were entertained by the brother of Monte- 
zuma at Iztapalapan, a city on the Lake of Tezcuco, 
distant only a few miles from the capital. His gar- 
dens are described as covering a great extent, and 
being laid out in regular squares, with neat walks, 
bordered by trellises supporting creeping plants and 
aromatic shrubs, which loaded the air with perfumes. 
It was stocked with fruit trees from warmer climates, 
and a great variety of flowering plants, scientifically 
arranged, were seen blooming on every side. The 
arid soil was watered by canals running through every 
part of the land, and a canal was cut affording a com- 
munication with the lake. 

Nor were these the only objects that excited sur- 
prise and admiration. In this lovely spot there was 
an aviary filled with birds of brilliant plumage, and 
an artificial basin of water, nearly a mile in cir- 
cuit, filled with every variety of fish. Its sides were 
faced with stone curiously sculptured, and a walk also 
made of stone, encircled it, of sufficient width for four 
persons to walk abreast. Such was the garden of Iz- 
tapalapan when the conqueror approached the city of 
Mexico : but a few years had passed, however, before 
the city, which was populous, as well as these won- 



52 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

derful gardens were a heap of ruins. The stranger 
now visiting the spot, will find it a loathsome morass, 
where, amid the fragments of noble edifices that once 
excited the admiration of the beholder, hideous reptiles 
of various forms find an undisturbed retreat. 

Trade and Commerce. — The fifth day of each 
week was fair day, on which occasion, articles of 
every kind were brought to market, and exhibited in a 
great square for sale. These fairs were attended by 
buyers and sellers, and as there were no shops, not 
only agricultural products, but every species of manu- 
facture was offered to the purchasers. A particular 
quarter was assigned for each kind of article, and all 
the transactions being regulated by magistrates, were 
conducted with order and fairness. 

The traffic was carried on partly by barter, and 
partly by means of a regulated currency of different 
values. This consisted of quills of gold dust, bits of 
tin in the form of a T, and bags of cacao containing 
a certain number of grains. 

Trade was held in estimation, and the occupation of 
a merchant was particularly respected. The Mexican 
merchant went from place to place, often extending 
his excursions not only to the frontiers of Anahuac, 
but to other countries. He dealt in rich stuffs, jew- 
els, slaves and other valuable commodities, all of 
which he carried with him in the fashion of an east- 
ern merchant. At Azapozalco, a few miles from 
Mexico, was a great slave market, where the slaves 
were exhibited, dressed in the gayest attire, and made 
to dance and sing, and display themselves in a man- 
ner to attract the attention of dealers. Slave dealing 
was an honorable calling among the Mexicans, 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 53 

The merchants went in caravans, on foot, attended 
by their slaves and several assistants. Each man 
carried a load of fifty pounds. Sometimes the number 
was several hundreds, and if the party was attacked, 
they ma.de a formidable resistance. Great privileges 
were allowed to the merchants by the sovereign, who 
often employed them as spies, and not unfrequently 
consulted them on matters of public importance. 
Thus the profession of a merchant was not only the 
path to wealth, but also to political preferment. 

Science and Learning.— The picture-writing of 
the Mexicans was executed with some neatness, and in 
its invention displayed no little mental effort. The pic- 
tures were symbolical; a tongue denoted speaking, a 
foot-print, travelling, &c. The symbols, however, were 
often arbitrary: as, a man sitting on the ground signi- 
fied an earthquake. There were also phonetic signs : 
or those which derived their meaning from sounds, as 
in our language. The names of persons were often 
significant of their character and adventures, as with 
the North American Indians. Still more frequently 
they resorted to direct pictures of things. 

By these several modes, they recorded their laws, 
tax-rolls, calendars and rituals, and their political 
annals carried back to a remote period. They had 
also a complete system of chronology, and could spe- 
cify with accuracy the dates of important events. 
These records were, however, interpreted by their oral 
traditions, the acquisition of which, constituted a large 
part of education. In the college of the priests, the 
pupils were instructed in these various branches of 

science, and some of them were regularly brought up 
5* 



54 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

in the profession of picture-writing. They had numer- 
ous historical, chronological and religious works, which, 
together with the traditions, constituted their literature. 

Their manuscripts were of cotton cloth, skins, silk 
prepared with gum, and a juice from the leaves of 
the aloe. This last resembled the papyrus of antiquity, 
and was even more soft and beautiful than parchment. 
Some specimens still existing, exhibit all the original 
brilliancy of the painting. They were sometimes 
done up in rolls, but more frequently in folds, and 
enclosed between tablets of wood, which gave them 
the appearance of books. These manuscripts were 
very numerous, and had they been preserved, Mexican 
history and literature would have been fully under- 
stood. But unhappily the Spaniards regarded them 
as magic scrolls, and the priests ordered them to be 
burned. The soldiers imitated this example, and 
every volume that fell into their hands was destroyed. 
A few have been preserved and are scattered among 
the libraries of Europe. 

The traditions of the country were embodied in 
songs and hymns, and were sedulously taught in 
schools. These embraced the legends of their heroes, 
blended with softer passages of love and pleasure. 
Many were composed by scholars and persons of rank, 
and the events they commemorated were regarded as 
authentic. Of these, only a few poetic odes have 
come down to us. The translations with which we 
are furnished of their prayers and public discourses, 
give a favorable idea of their eloquence. They 
had theatrical pantomimes, in which the faces of the 
performers were masked. 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 55 

Their science, however, greatly eclipsed their liter- 
ature. They had a very simple and convenient 
arithmetic ; large sums were reckoned by twenties ; 
the square of twenty or four hundred, was represented 
by a plume ; the cube of twenty or eight thousand, by 
a purse : half or three quarters of a plume represented 
those portions of four hundred ; and the same may be 
said of the purse. The year was divided into eighteen 
months, of twenty days each; five days were added, 
as in Ancient Egypt, to make the complement of 36-5. 
These five days belonged to no month, and were 
reckoned as unlucky. The month was divided into 
four weeks, of five days each, the last being market- 
day. To make up the period of six hours, which was 
lost by their reckoning each year, they resorted to 
the intercalation of twenty -five days in every 104 
years. This arrangement shows an astonishing pre- 
cision in adjusting their civil to solar time ; and in this 
respect, surpassed any European calendar of that period. 

This surprising fact is accompanied by others in 
their chronology. The epoch from which they reck- 
oned, coincided with the year 1091 of the Chris- 
tian era. Cycles of fifty-two years each, were called 
sheafs, and represented by bundles ol sticks. The 
priests had a lunar calendar by which they regulated 
their festivals, sacrifices and astrological calculations, 
The latter were founded less upon planetary influences, 
than upon the arbitrary signs of the months, and were 
the means by which the attempt was made to pene- 
trate the mysterious veil of the future. In no country 
have the dreams of the astrologer been regarded with 
more implicit reverence. At the birth of an infant, he 



56 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

was called to cast its horoscope, and the family hung 
in trembling suspense, while he was supposed to 
unroll the dark volume of destiny. The Mexicans 
were acquainted with the cause of eclipses, and recog- 
nized some of the constellations. They used the dial ; 
and the calendar-stone disinterred in 1790, as we have 
already related, shows that they had the means of 
determining the precise hour of the day, the periods 
of the solstices, the equinoxes, and the passage of the 
sun across the zenith of Mexico. 

We cannot better conclude our account of Mexican 
science, than by an extract from Mr. Prescott's work, 
to which we are largely indebted for the preceding 
sketch, giving a description of the remarkable festival 
held at the termination of the great cycle of 52 years. 
" We have seen, in the preceding chapter, their tradi- 
tion of the destruction of the world, at four successive 
epochs. They looked forward confidently to another 
such catastrophe, to take place like the preceding at 
the close of a cycle, when the sun was to be effaced 
from the heavens, the human race from the earth, and 
when the darkness of chaos was to settle on the hab- 
itable globe. The cycle would end in the latter part 
of December, and as the dreary season of the winter 
solstice approached, and the diminished light of day 
gave melancholy presage of its speedy extinction, their 
apprehensions increased; and on the arrival of the 
five " unlucky" days which closed the year, they aban- 
doned themselves to despair. They broke in pieces 
the little images of their household gods in whom they 
no longer trusted. The holy fires were suffered to go 
out in the temples, and none were lighted in their own 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 57 

dwellings. Their furniture and domestic utensils were 
destroyed ; their garments torn in pieces ; and every- 
thing was thrown into disorder, for the coming of the 
evil genii who were to descend on the desolate earth. 

" On the evening of the last day, a procession of 
priests, assuming the dress and ornaments of their 
gods, moved from the capital towards a lofty moun- 
tain, about two leagues distant. They carried with 
them a noble victim, the flower of their captives, and 
an apparatus for kindling the new fire, the success of 
which was an augury of the renewal of the cycle. 
On reaching the summit of the mountain, the proces- 
sion paused till midnight ; when, as the constellation 
of the Pleiades approached the zenith, the new fire 
was kindled by the friction of the sticks placed on the 
breast of the victim. The flame was soon communi- 
cated to a funeral pile, on which the body of the 
slaughtered captive was thrown. As the light streamed 
up towards heaven, shouts of joy and triumph burst 
forth from the countless multitudes who covered the 
liills, the terraces of the temples, and the house-tops, 
with eyes anxiously bent on the mount of sacrifice. 
Couriers, with torches lighted at the blazing beacon, 
rapidly bore them over every part of the country ; and 
the cheering element was seen brightening on altar 
and hearth-stone, for the circuit of many a league, 
long before the sun, rising on his accustomed track, 
gave assurance that a new cycle had commenced its 
march, and that the laws of nature were not to be 
reversed for the Aztecs. 

" The following thirteen days were given up to fes- 
tivity. The houses were cleansed and whitened, 



58 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



The broken vessels were replaced by new ones. The 
people, dressed in their gayest apparel, and crowned 
with garlands and chaplets of flowers, thronged in joy- 
ous procession to offer up their oblations and thanks- 
givings in the temples. Dances and games were 
instituted, emblematical of the regeneration of the 
world. It was the carnival of the Aztecs, or rather 
the national jubilee, the great secular festival, like that 
of the Eomans, or ancient Etruscans, which few alive 
had witnessed before, — or could expect to see again." 




The temple of Mexico. 

Cities. — The vale of Mexico, in which the capital 
was situated, was about 200 miles from the sea; it 
was of great extent, and encircled by mountains, some 
of which were always capped with snow. The valley 
contained eight lakes, of considerable size ; that of 
Tezcuco, in the centre of which Tenochtitlan, the 
ancient name of Mexico, was situated, was nearly as 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. £0 

salt as sea-water. Lake Chalco, lying close to it, is 
of fresh water. 

The present town of Mexico, though upon the same 
site as the ancient city, is three miles from the water ; 
a fact to be explained by the circumstance that owing 
to evaporation, the lake has shrunk to a small portion 
of its former extent, being now but 14 miles long and 
8 broad. 

Though modern Mexico is one of the finest cities 
in America, yet it is far less interesting than was the 
ancient capital upon whose ruins it was founded. 
Tenochtitlan was built upon a group of low marshy 
islands, nearly in the middle of lake Tezcuco. and 
many of its houses were raised upon spiles. The 
chief access to the city passed over the lake from the 
south, and came into a broad street which crossed the 
town : this led to another causeway which traversed 
the lake to the north. Beside these two dikes, there 
was another which connected the island city with the 
main land on the west. These dikes were built of 
solid mason work, of sufficient width to allow ten 
horsemen to pass abreast, and were defended by draw- 
bridges. They continue, to the present day, to be the 
chief avenues to the city. 

The first settlers of this wonderful city, built their 
frail dwellings of reeds and rushes, covering them 
with the leaves of the aloe ; but in due time, they laid 
solid foundations, and constructed noble edifices of 
light colored free-stone, found in the vicinity. The 
houses of the great chiefs were on a scale of rude 
magnificence ; they were seldom of more than two 
stories, and were arranged in quadrangles around a 



60 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

court; the latter was encircled by porticoes, embel- 
lished with porphyry and jasper. A fountain of crys- 
tal water often played in the court, shedding its grateful 
coolness over the atmosphere. The dwellings of the 
common people had foundations of stone, with walls 
of brick, crossed by wooden rafters. Dwellings of the 
meanest kind were mingled with the more splendid 
edifices, giving the streets a rude and broken aspect. 

The water flowed through the town as in the famous 
Italian city of Venice, by means of numerous canals 
which crossed it in every direction. The principal 
street, extending in a straight line from the southern 
to the northern causeway, afforded a noble view, in 
which gardens rising in terraces, and displaying every 
variety of fruit and flower, were seen intervening 
between the long ranges of buildings. 

The population of the capital, at the time of the 
conquest, was supposed to be at least 300,000 souls ; 
but we must consider that its immediate vicinity was 
teeming with people. Its circuit was about three miles. 
Fresh water was brought to the city, a distance of 
nearly a league, by an earthen pipe, constructed for 
the purpose. This fed the fountains and reservoirs of 
the principal inhabitants ; the water was also trans- 
ported to all parts of the city, by means of canals, for 
general use. 

Montezuma, who had a taste for magnificence, erect- 
ed a pile of buildings for his palace, of vast extent, 
which occupied a part of what is now the great square 
of Mexico. The roofs of the chief buildings were 
terraced, and were of such extent, that the Spaniards 
declared them to be sufficient for a tournament of 



THE MEXICAN INDIA VS. 61 

thirty knights. Its exterior was profusely decorated, 
the apartments were hung with fanciful draperies, and 
its roofs, held together without a nail, were inlaid with 
cedar and other odorous woods. Its rooms were spa- 
cious, and Cortes in his enthusiasm declared them to 
be superior to anything of the kind in Spain. Adja- 
cent to the principal edifice, was an armory, filled with 
military weapons and dresses, and kept in the most 
perfect order. There were granaries for articles of 
food, and warehouses for apparel. There was an 
immense aviary, in which parrots of every tribe, pheas- 
ants, cardinals, humming-birds and other birds of 
brilliant plumage were assembled from all parts of the 
empire. This establishment was in the charge of 
three hundred attendants. There was also a separate 
building for vultures and eagles, and such was their 
immense number, that they were allowed five hundred 
turkeys for their daily food. Adjoining the aviary 
was a menagerie of wild animals of various kinds. 
The serpents were kept in long cages, lined with 
feathers, or in troughs of mud. 

Extensive gardens were spread around these build- 
ings, filled with fragrant shrubs and flowers and me- 
dicinal plants. Amid a labyrinth of sweet-scented 
groves and shrubberies were seen sparkling jets of 
water, scattering their refreshing dews over the blos- 
soms. There were large reservoirs stocked with fish 
and frequented by various tribes of water fowl, whose 
tastes were so nicely consulted that salt water was 
provided for those whose habits were supposed to re- 
quire it. 

The picture of this luxurious palace would be 
v.— 6 



62 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

incomplete, without a sketch of the monarch. His 
domestic establishment was on a scale of barbaric 
splendor ; his wives being as numerous as those of an 
eastern sultan. They were lodged in their own apart- 
ments, and spent their time in the feminine employ- 
ments of weaving and embroidery. The palace was 
supplied with numerous baths, and the monarch set the 
example in his own person of frequent ablutions. He 
changed his dress four times a day, and never wore 
a garment a second time. 

Besides a numerous female retinue, the palace was 
filled with nobles, the haughty Montezuma refusing to 
be served by any other than men of gentle blood. He 
took his meals alone in a saloon, the floors of which 
were covered with mats. The bill of fare embraced 
hundreds of dishes, game from remote forests, and fish 
which the day before were swimming in the distant 
Gulf of Mexico. The meats were served by attend- 
ant nobles, who soon resigned their office to maidens 
selected for their personal grace and beauty. The 
emperor was seated on a cushion and the dinner was 
served on a table covered with fine cotton cloth. The 
dishes were of the finest wares of Cholula, though he 
had a service of gold for religious occasions. During 
the repast a screen, richly gilt, was drawn round him, 
to conceal him from vulgar eyes. The solid dishes 
were succeeded by sweetmeats and pastry, rolls, wa- 
fers, and at last chocolate. This was served in golden 
goblets, with spoons of the same metal. The des- 
sert surpassed in luxury that of any prince in Eu- 
rope. It embraced the fruits of the tropics, and more 
temperate regions, gathered even from distant climes. 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 63 

and transmitted with the speed of steam to the capi- 
tal. 

After the meal, water was brought in a silver basin, 
with which the monarch performed his ablution. He 
was then supplied with pipes, and regaled himself 
with the fumes of tobacco, mingled with liquid amber, 
sometimes drawn in by the nose, and at others, by the 
mouth. During this soothing process he was cheered 
by the exhibition of mountebanks and jugglers, of 
whom a regular corps was attached to the palace. 
Sometimes, also, he amused himself with the jesters 
who belonged to the court, or with the graceful dances 
of the women accompanied by a low and solemn chant, 
celebrating the heroic deeds of the Aztec warriors. 
When sufficiently regaled, he took his siesta, after 
which, he gave audience to ambassadors, or persons 
of rank, who entered his presence barefoot, and with 
downcast eyes. " Surely," says Cortes, "neither the 
Grand Senior, nor an}' other infidel, ever displayed so 
pompous and elaborate a ceremonial." 

Beside the crowd of retainers already noticed, there 
were numerous artisans employed about the buildings, 
and jewellers who made trinkets for the dark-eyed 
beauties of the harem. The mummers and jugglers 
were also numerous, and such was the number of 
dancers attached to the palace, that a particular district 
in the city was assigned for their use. The main- 
tenance of this host, amounting to several thousand, 
required heavy disbursements, yet an exact account of 
these was kept in an apartment appropriated to the 
purpose, where the whole economy of the palace might 
be seen recorded in hieroglyphic ledgers. On the 
arrival of the Spaniards, the treasurer who had charge 



64 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



of this office was a trusty cacique, named Tapia. 
Such is the picture of the palace of Mexico, with the 
habits of its luxurious lord. In these we cannot fail 
to see a striking resemblance to the manners and cus- 
toms which belonged to the more sumptuous princes 
of the Tartar race. 

The great temple or teocalli, of the capital, occupied 
the large tract which now contains the cathedral of 
Mexico, part of the market-place, and some of the 
adjoining streets. It stood in the midst of this vast 
area, and was encompassed by a wall of stone eight 
feet high, ornamented on the outside with figures of 
serpents, wrought in bas relief. This wall was pierced 
by four gateways, opening to the four principal streets 
of the city. 

It was a pyramidal structure of earth and pebbles, 
coated on the outside with hewn stone. It was square, 
and its four sides faced the cardinal points. It con- 
sisted of five stories or platforms, with a stairway, which 
was so arranged as to pass four times around the whole 
edifice in ascending. This contrivance gave a splendid 
effect to the religious processions which ascended and 
descended the temple. It was about three hundred 
feet square at the base and a hundred feet high. 

The view of the city of Mexico, from the top of 
this temple, as a central point, was truly sublime. Be- 
low, the beholder could see the city spread out like a 
map, with its streets and canals, and every portion of 
it teeming with life and bustle, and business. Hun- 
dreds of canoes were glancing on the canals, the streets 
were thronged with gaily dressed people, and the whole 
air was filled with the hum that came up from the mar- 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 65 

ket-place. Encircling the city was seen the lake of 
Tezcuco, and at a distance the fresh water expanse of 
Chalco — both bordered by numerous towns. The view 
extended over a wide prospect beyond, displaying, 
amid cultivated and luxuriant fields, the burnished 
walls of numerous temples, until at last the eye rested 
upon the circle of mountains which enclose the valley, 
and whose tops, covered with perpetual snow, pre- 
sented a spectacle of eternal winter, looking down 
upon a region of almost perpetual spring. 

The vast area on the top of this pyramid was occu- 
pied by a large block of jasper, where the victims of 
the sacrifices were slain. At the other end were two 
towers, of three stories each. In the lower divisions 
were the gods, the utensils of sacrifice, the altars and 
the ever-blazing fire. Other apartments were de- 
voted to different uses, and some of them, when visited 
by Cortes, displayed not only the horrid symbols of 
the Mexican religion, but they were stained with 
human gore, and were scarcely to be endured on ac- 
count of the suffocating stench which pervaded them. 
The priests, clotted with blood, and with aspects more 
fit for demons than ministers of religion, were seen 
passing from place to place and performing the revolt- 
ing rites of the several gods to whose worship they 
were devoted. 

As Cortes and his companions became familiar with 
the streets of Mexico, they remarked that the people 
here were generally better dressed, than in other parts 
of the country which they had seen. The women, 
who went abroad as freely as the men, wore several 
skirts or petticoats, of different lengths, one above 
e 6* 



66 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

another; these were richly embroidered, and were 
sometimes covered with flowing robes, reaching to the 
ankle. No veils were worn here, as in some other 
provinces; and the hair floated luxuriantly over the 
shoulders, displaying the serious and somewhat melan- 
choly, though often beautiful, features. The men 
wore cloaks, tied round the neck and fastened about 
the loins by an ample sash. These were often highly 
ornamented — and as the weather became cool, the 
cotton fabrics gave place to others of fur or feather- 
work. 

There was, perhaps, nothing in this wonderful city, 
which excited more surprise in the Spaniards, than 
the great market-place. In this vast area, encircled 
by porticoes, the whole trade of the city was carried 
on, there being no shops for the purpose. Each trade 
had its particular quarter, duly assigned by the attend- 
ing officers. 

In one place might be seen cotton goods piled up in 
bales, or manufactured into dresses, curtains, coverlets 
and tapestries : in another were the goldsmiths, with 
their curious toys and trinkets and a multitude of other 
articles for more substantial use. In one quarter were 
articles of pottery, coarse and fine ; in another, vases 
of wood, elaborately wrought, gilt and varnished ; there 
were hatchets of tin and copper — a tolerable substitute 
for iron — razors and knives of stone ; blank books 
and maps ; paper of many kinds ; casques, doublets, 
lances, arrows, and swords, for the soldier; meats, 
and grain, and fish of every kind, and vegetables in 
great variety. 

Amid this busy scene, was also to be found the 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 67 

barber, ready to shave his customers with a razor of 
stone ; and a multitude of dealers with smoking viands, 
alluring beverages and tempting confectionary, pre- 
pared for use. Pastry, bread, cakes, chocolate, pulque, 
and a variety of other articles were offered from stands 
beneath the portico, all of which were almost smoth- 
ered with a profusion of gaudy and fragrant flowers. 
Nothing could exceed in bustle and activity, this won- 
derful spectacle— where not only a large part of the 
people of the city were gathered, but multitudes from 
the gardens, towns and villages around the lake, and 
from the adjacent country. The number assembled 
here was often at least forty thousand, and probably, 
on some occasions, many more. 

Such were some of the wonders of the city of 
Mexico, at the time it was visited by Cortes, — and who, 
being received with lavish hospitality, repaid the kind- 
ness of his royal entertainer with a cruelty and treach- 
ery which finds no parallel in history. He came with 
professions of peace, kindness, and charity; yet his 
conduct was that of a robber and murderer, whose 
plunder amounted to unnumbered millions, and whose 
victims were only to be reckoned by hundreds of thou- 
sands. In reading his history, we are lost in mingled 
wonder and indignation, at his fanaticism, his courage, 
his duplicity, and the terrible ravages which followed 
his sway, and speedily resulted in sweeping from the 
earth, the whole fabric of Mexican civilization — its 
arts — cities-— people, princes and government — leaving 
behind only the ghastly relics to shadow forth the 
departed days of former glory. 

After this description of Mexico, it is not necessary 



68 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

to give a minute account of the other cities of Anahuac. 
None of them rivalled the capital, though many were 
populous, and abounded in fine buildings. Tezcuco* 
fifteen miles north-east of Mexico, was once a noble 
city, and was the residence of the monarch of that 
rich and flourishing kingdom. 

The history of the Tezcucans is hardly less interest- 
ing than that of the Mexicans. They appear, indeed, to 
have preceded their Aztec neighbors in civilization, and 
at a period a little before the time of Montezuma, their 
laws, policy and arts, seem to have indicated a degree 
of improvement even superior to that of the Mexicans, 
in the time of Cortes. The remains of their literature 
surpass any thing that has been left by their neighbors. 

The palace in the city of Tezcuco is described as 
having been in the highest degree magnificent ; and 
there were other edifices of great extent and no incon- 
siderable degree of barbaric splendor. For a long 
period, the kings of Tezcuco were in alliance with 
those of Mexico, notwithstanding that their territories 
were contiguous, and the capitals within sight of each 
other. Under this union, both nations flourished, and 
in the reign of Nezahualcoyotl, who died in 1470, 
Tezcuco rose to a high pitch of prosperity. This was 
considered its golden age. The monarch was not 
only a warrior and statesman, but a poet of no mean 
capacity. He was doubtless the greatest prince that 
ever sat on an American throne. 

His son, Nezahualpilli, possessed his father's talents, 
but he became depressed with superstitious fears, and 
shrunk from the active cares of government. Taking 
advantage of this weakness, the crafty Montezuma 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 69 

stripped him of his principal tributary territories, and 
Tezcuco thence became secondary to Mexico. Its capi- 
tal soon fell into the hands of the Spanish conquerors, 
and its temples and palaces crumbled away beneath 
the tread of the destroyer. 

The ancient city of Cholula lay nearly sixty miles 
south-east of Mexico, and is described by Cortes as 
containing 20,000 houses, and perhaps 200,000 inhabi- 
tants. It was founded by the Aztecs, and long main- 
tained a sort of republican government. It excelled 
in various mechanical arts, especially in working metals 
and in manufacturing cotton and pottery. It was ven- 
erable for its antiquity, and having been the residence 
of Quetzalcoatl, was held in religious reverence. 
Upon the great pyramid, surpassing in magnitude 
every other religious structure on the globe, were the 
altars of this deity. They were enclosed in a sump- 
tuous temple, which also contained the image of the 
mystic god. The sanctity of the place, hallowed by 
tradition, brought a multitude of pilgrims from the 
remotest boundaries of Anahuac, to offer up their 
devotions at the shrine of Quetzalcoatl. In no city 
were there such a concourse of priests, so many 
processions, and such ceremonial pomp of sacrifice 
and festival. Cholula was in short the Mecca of 
Anahuac. 

Tlascala was about twenty miles north of Cholula, 
and was a populous town in the time of Cortes. The 
houses were for the most part of mud, the better sort 
being, however, of stone or brick. They were without 
doors or windows, but mats were hung in the entrances 
to the house, and being fringed with pieces of copper^ 



70 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

gave a tinkling sound, which answered the purpose 
of bells in announcing any one's approach. The 
streets were narrow and dark. At the fairs, held as 
usual every fifth day, 30,000 persons were present. 
Barbers' shops and baths were common in the city. 

The Tlascalans occupied an elevated and rugged 
territory, cultivating the land, however, with skill and 
success. Their bracing atmosphere and hardy pur- 
suits imparted to them great vigor of character, and 
that jealousy of liberty which led to the mainten- 
ance of a republican government, and rendered them 
impatient of the authority claimed by Montezuma. 
Their hatred springing from this source, led them to 
hail Cortes as a deliverer, and to receive him into their 
capital with demonstrations of unbounded joy. Yet 
the friendship of the Spaniard proved as fatal as his 
enmity, and nothing remains of the great city of Tlas- 
cala but a miserable village, containing a few hundred 
inhabitants. 

There were other cities scattered throughout Ana- 
huac, many of them populous and some remarkable for 
their edifices. Among these were several in the vicin- 
ity of Mexico, the remains of which still bear testi- 
mony to their former splendor 

Antiquities. — It is scarcely possible to conceive of 
a greater change than has taken place in Mexico, since 
the conquest. Not only are the palaces and cities 
of the Aztec race swept away to give place to modern 
towns ; not only are the Indian temples either levelled 
down or in ruins, over which trees and plants seek to 
throw a veil of oblivion, but the very aspect of the 
country, in many places, has lost its original character. 



THE BIEXICAN INDIANS. 71 

A recent traveller speaks of the approach to modern 
Mexico as presenting " scenery arid and flat; and where 
the waters of the lakes, covered with gay canoes, once 
surrounded the city, forming canals through its streets, 
we now see melancholy marshes, little enlivened by 
the great flocks of wild ducks and waterfowl that rise 
from them." This shrinking of the waters of the 
lake, and the desolation which has consequently usurp- 
ed the place of former fertility, seem fit emblems of 
the blasting influence of the Spanish dominion in this 
favored clime. 

It is the peculiar disgrace of the conquerors of 
Mexico, that while with bigot zeal they quenched the 
light of civilization that existed in the country, blotting 
out its history, destroying its libraries, demolishing 
the works of art, crushing the fabric of government, 
desolating the cities, butchering the inhabitants almost 
by millions, and trampling down the original races 
beneath the iron heel of despotism, — after more than 
three centuries they have hardly produced a state of 
society better than that which they found. Reducing 
the nations to a state of abject poverty and servitude, 
they have given them in compensation of their un- 
numbered wrongs, only the Catholic religion, which, 
however, is used by the Indians as the vehicle through 
which they still worship their bloody gods, and as the 
instrument by which they are plundered of their hard 
earnings. 

After such a process of worse than Vandal destruc- 
tion, few antiquities of great interest can be expected 
to remain. The city of Mexico has been wholly trans- 
formed — the great temple, the palace of Montezuma, 



72 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

the stately edifices of the nobles have vanished for- 
ever. A colossal statue of the goddess of war still 
remains, but it is buried that it may not rouse the 
dormant superstitions of the natives. When a few 
years since it was taken up that a cast might be made 
from it, these people, in attestation of their lingering 
reverence, dressed it in flowers ! The drapery of this 
idol is of twisted serpents, and two snakes supply the 
place of arms. The necklace represents human hands 
and skulls, fastened together by entrails. This statue 
is nine feet high. 

Within the enclosure of the present cathedral is an 
ancient mass, called the stone of the sacrifices. It is 
of porphyry and nine feet wide. In the centre is a 
head, in relief, surrounded by 27 groups of figures. 
The hideous use of this stone is indicated by a groove, 
made to carry off the blood of the victims ! 

The great stone, disinterred in 1790, called Monte- 
zuma's watch, or the Mexican calendar, has been al- 
ready noticed. Besides the remains of monuments 
which were chiefly works of magnificence, there are 
others abounding around the city of Mexico, and all 
over the country, which attest the high degree of civ- 
ilization which their builders had attained. Among 
these were roads constructed of huge blocks of stone, 
and frequently carried on a continued level, so as to 
be viaducts across valleys. The remains of bridges, 
also, of great strength and durability, are still found 
in different parts of the country. 

A little to the west of Mexico is the royal hill of 
Chapoltepec. It is a lofty crest of porphyritic rock, 
and now occupied by a gloomy and desolate castle, 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 73 

erected by Galves, the Spanish viceroy. In the days 
of Montezuma, its base was swept by the waters of 
the Tezcuco, and on account of the enchanting pros- 
pect it afforded, it became the favorite residence of the 
luxurious emperor. Here he had a palace, and his 
gardens extended for miles around the base of the hill. 
Amid tangled shrubbery, twining myrtles, and the 
dark shadows of gigantic cypresses, some interesting 
relics, consisting chiefly of reservoirs, for baths, are 
still to be seen. A recent traveller, speaking of this 
now desolate spot, has the following words :— 

" Could these hoary forests speak, what tales might 
they not disclose, standing with their long gray beards 
and outstretched venerable arms, century after cen- 
tury, already old when Montezuma was a boy, and 
still vigorous in the days of Bustamente ! Here has 
the last of the Aztec emperors wandered with his 
dark-eyed harem. Under the shade of these gigantic 
trees he had rested, perhaps smoked his ' tobacco 
mingled with amber,' and fallen to sleep, his dreams 
unhaunted by visions of the stern traveller from the 
far east, whose sails even then might be within sight 
of the shore. In these tanks he has bathed. Here 
were his gardens, his aviaries and his fish-ponds. 
Through these, now tangled and deserted woods, he 
may have been carried by his young nobles in his 
open litter, under a splendid dais, stepping out upon 
the rich stuffs which his slaves spread before him on 
the green and velvet turf." 

Other places of great interest exist in the Valley of 
Mexico. Tezcuco is now only a mass of ruins, but 
these are peculiarly grand. The foundations and 
v.— 7 



74 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



remains of temples, fortresses, palaces, and other ex- 
tensive buildings, attest a period when it must have 
been one of the greatest cities of America, and capital 
of the kingdom of Acolhuacan; still later, it was the 
seat of literature and art, the Athens of America. The 
remains of the palace of the former tributary king 
could not be viewed without forming an elevated idea 
of the ancient Mexican architecture. It must have 
covered several acres, was raised on sloping terraces, 
and built of materials at once durable and beautiful. 
All around Tezcuco are seen mounds of brick, mixed 
with aqueducts, ruins of buildings of enormous 
strength, and many large square structures nearl} r en- 
tire. Here the blind zeal of the first bishops collected 
and committed to the flames, all the monuments of 
Aztec history and literature. 

Near Otumba, once large and flourishing, but now 
little more than a village, are the pyramids of Teoti- 
huacan, the two principal of which appear to be tem- 
ples dedicated to the sun and moon ; the highest of 
these has been recently estimated at 221 feet. They 
were formerly crowned by two immense stone idols : 
these were covered with gold which was stripped off 
by the Spanish conquerors. The whole plain around 
these pyramids was called the pathway of the dead. 
Hundreds of smaller pyramids surround the two larger 
ones, and are disposed in regular streets, which ter- 
minate at the temples of the sun and moon. This was 
probably an ancient burial place, and is spoken of by 
a recent visitor, as an Aztec Pere-la-Chaise, or roof- 
less Westminster Abbey. Human sacrifices were 
also offered here, and stone knives and arrows, with 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



75 



which the priests opened the breasts of their victims 
are still found about the place. 

Cholula has been already mentioned. It is now a 
small town, and its mighty pyramid, crumbling with 
age, is covered with vegetation. It is 177 feet high, 
and one side of its base measures 1440 feet. Though 
far less elevated than the great pyramid of Jizeh, it 
greatly exceeds it in bulk, for that measures but 763 
feet at the base. This celebrated temple is said to 
have resembled that of Belus, in Babylon. 

There are other interesting monuments of antiquity 
in Mexico, especially in Yucatan and the vicinity, — 
of these we shall hereafter give a particular account. 




Indians of tke city of Mexico. 

Present State of the Indians of Mexico. — In the 
preceding pages we have not noticed several tribes 
occupying the northern border of Mexico, which in 
the time of Cortes lived a wandering life, and main- 
tained their wild independence. Many of these were 
ns ver subdued, and others have but partially submitted 



76 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

to the Spanish authority. There are still numerous 
bands of these, called Indios Bravos^ who preserve 
their savage habits, though their condition has been 
modified by the use of horses and firearms, which 




Indians of the country near Mexico. 

they have adopted from the Europeans. Among these 
tribes are the Camanchees, who live partly within 
the territory of Mexico, and partly within that of 
the United States. These will be hereafter noticed, 
and a description of their manners and customs will 
give a general idea of this class of the Mexican Indi- 
ans. 

Our descriptions have had a primary reference to 
the several nations and tribes embraced within the 
empire of Montezuma, who had adopted some degree 
of civilization. These people, who were once the 
masters of the country, have since the conquest been a 
subjugated and depressed race; and though they have 
been placed in contact with the arts and institutions 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 77 

of civilization, they have hardly been improved in 
their condition. They have, indeed, parted with the 
bloody rites connected with their religion ; but nearly 
the same idolatrous superstitions linger in their minds, 
as in former days. 

On the whole, it would appear that the mental and 
physical characteristics of the Mexican Indians, have 
shared in the paralyzing effects of the Spanish domin- 
ion. Though shorter and apparently less athletic 
than our northern savages, they bear the general fea- 
tures of the great American family. They have the 
same swarthy or copper color, the flat and smooth 
hair, thin beard, squat body, long eye with the corner 
curving up towards the temples, prominent cheek 
bones, thick lips, and an expression of gentleness in 
the mouth, strongly contrasted with a gloomy and se- 
vere look. Their hair is coarse, but smooth, and so 
glossy as to appear in a constant state of humidity. 
They share with the rest of their countrymen, and 
with most races of very swarthy complexion, an ex- 
emption from almost every species of deformity. 
Humboldt never saw a hunchbacked Indian, and 
squinting and lameness are very rare. They escape 
the goitre, even in districts where it is prevalent. 
None of the causes which have been assigned for this 
exemption in nomadic nations, can apply to a labori- 
ous, agricultural race like the Mexican Indians ; and 
therefore, this immunity must depend on something 
peculiar in their structure. 

It has been supposed that few attain an advanced age, 
because none of them are ever seen with grey hair. 
Yet it is not uncommon for a peaceful cultivator to be 

7* 



78 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

vigorous at the age of an hundred years. The extrav- 
agant use of pulque, especially in respect to those who 
frequent the markets of the capital, has a very debas- 
ing influence. The police of the city are accus- 
tomed to send round tumbrils to collect the drunk- 
ards, like so many dead bodies. These are punished 
by being chained, and made to work in the streets for 
several days. 

Although most of the Aztec nobles perished in the 
ruin of their country, yet some still remain, and are 
looked upon with veneration by their countrymen. 
They are usually invested with the government of 
the villages, and are accused of exercising their power 
in a tyrannical manner, even over their kindred race. 

The Indians pay a tribute or capitation tax, varying 
at different times and places, from one to five dollars. 
A few of them have amassed considerable wealth: 
but in general, they labor under severe poverty. 
They bear the aspect of a depraved and depressed 
people, and the beauty of the females which seemed 
to excite the admiration of Cortes and his companions, 
has generally departed. A recent observer describes 
them in the following terms. " The common Indians 
whom we see every day bringing in their fruit and 
vegetables to market, are, generally speaking, very 
plain, with a humble, mild expression of countenance, 
very gentle and wonderfully polite in their manners 
to each other ; but occasionally in the lower classes, 
one sees a face and form so beautiful, that we might 
suppose such another was the Indian who enchanted 
Cortes i with eyes and hair of extraordinary beauty, 
a complexion dark, but glowing, with the Indian 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 79 

beauty of teeth like the driven snow, together with 
small feet and beautifully shaped hands and arms, 
however imbrowned by sun and toil." 

Notwithstanding their degradation, the Indians ap- 
pear to be gifted with a clear apprehension, a natural 
logic, and a capacity for cool and even subtle reason- 
ing, but to be destitute of any warmth of imagination, 
or flow of sentiment. Yet, the love of flowers, for 
which they have been remarkable since the conquest, 
seems to indicate a taste for the beautiful. In the 
public market of the capital, the Mexican shrouds 
himself with an entrenchment of verdure, and the 
ground around him is embellished with festoons of 
flowers which are daily renewed, They evince a 
great attachment to the arts of painting and carving, 
and imitate with great facility any models which are 
presented to them. A peculiar apathy marks the 
deportment of the Mexican Indian. He is grave, 
gloomy and silent; he seems to throw a mysterious 
air over the most indifferent actions, yet is often seen 
to pass at once from a state of seemingly profound 
repose to one of violent and unrestrained agitation. 

The Indians are almost entirely destitute of every 
species of education, except such as they acquire by 
observation. They have lost the means of instruction 
afforded by their own priesthood, and the Spanish- 
government have made no provision to supply their 
place. They have, however, adopted some Spanish 
customs. It is not uncommon to see them playing 
the guitar or to hear them singing simple European 
airs. The Catholic religion was pressed upon them 
by the Romish priests and monks, who flocked to 



80 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

S^uth America. So intent were they, that long 
before they were themselves sufficiently acquainted 
with the language of the Indians to explain to them 
the mysteries of their faith, or the precepts of duty, 
they received them into their church and baptized 
them. While this rage for conversion continued, a 
single missionary baptized in one day above five thou- 
sand, and did not desist until he was so exhausted by 
fatigue, that he was unable to raise his hands, Not- 
withstanding they seemed to consent to Christianity, 
when out of the reach of the Spaniards they returned 
to their idolatrous rites. 

It may, however, be observed, that the Romish re- 
ligion seems to have been sown here in a soil not 
wholly unprepared for its reception. Even at the time 
of the conquest, certain christian rites and notions of 
morality appear to have existed among the Mexi- 
cans, strangely blent with their heathen idolatries. 
We have already noticed the ceremony of baptism, 
and we may add that the symbol of the cross was 
already known long before the arrival of Cortes. 
There was a temple at Cholula dedicated to the holy 
cross, by the Toltecs, the predecessors of the Mexican 
race. At Yucatan and other places, this emblem 
was common. These and other equally singular 
facts have led to various theories, one of which is, 
that St. Thomas was a missionary to these regions ! 
We need hardly add, that the subject remains involved 
in inscrutable mystery. 

The Spaniards consider the Indians as being now 
converted to the Christian faith ; and this might seem 
to be justified by their devotion to catholic ceremo- 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 81 

nies. An able writer, however, remarks that "the 
change has evidently been not a change of creed, but 
a commutation of one ceremony for another, and in 
some cases their ancient ceremonies are retained. 
Humboldt seems to suppose that they merely consid- 
ered the Spanish gods to have vanquished their gods, 
and thence to have been entitled to their homage. 
They even persuaded themselves, and it is said were 
assured by the Spaniards, that the emblem of the 
third person in the Trinity, was identical with the 
sacred Mexican eagle. Be this as it may, the Mexi- 
cans display an extraordinary ardor in adorning the 
churches with pictures and statues, and in collecting 
and grouping flowers, fruits and every thing which 
can increase the splendor of religious festivals. But 
their favorite form of worship is dancing round the 
altar, and with astonishment is it perceived that these 
dances are the same with which their ancestors cele- 
brated the immolation of human victims to the dread- 
ful god of war. The warrior departs attired in the 
full costume of the days of Montezuma; he meets 
another; fights, vanquishes and drags him by the hair 
before the emperor. The spectator almost expects to 
see the blood begin to flow." We have already men- 
tioned the fact, that when the image of the goddess 
of war that is sunk in the square of the cathedral, 
was dug up for the purpose of taking a cast of it, the 
Indians dressed it with flowers. Some of them also 
remarked, that after the cordial manner in which they 
had received the Spanish gods, they might have been 
allowed to retain a few of their own. 

The season called holy week, is noticed in the city 

F 



82 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



of Mexico with a vast deal of religious ceremonial: 
in the country there are melodramatic representations 
of the sufferings, death and burial of Christ. In these, 
the Indians take a peculiar interest, as they seem 
suited to their taste and capacity. The following 
description from a work already quoted,^ gives a 
good idea of these scenes. The place at which the 
events occurred, was Coyohuacan, in the vicinity of 
Mexico. 

" The first evening we arrived here, there was a 
representation of the Pharisees searching for Christ. 
These were very finely dressed either in scarlet stuff 
and gold, or in green and silver, with helmets and 
feathers, mounted upon horses which are taught to 
dance and rear to the sound of music, so that upon 
the whole, they looked like performers at Astley's. 
They came on with music, riding up the lanes until 
they arrived in front of this house, which being the 
principal place hereabouts they came to first, and 
where the Indian workmen and servants were all 
collected to see them. They rode about for some time, 
as if in search of Christ, until a full length figure of 
the Saviour appeared, dressed in purple robes, carried 
on a platform by four men and guarded on all sides 
by soldiers. It is singular thai after all, there is 
nothing ridiculous in these exhibitions ; on the con- 
trary, something rather terrible. In the first place, 
the music is good, which would hardly be the case in 
any but a Mexican village ; the dresses are really 
rich, the gold all real, and the whole has the effect of 

*"Life in Mexico, by Madame C. de B.," an exceedingly 
clever performance, giving a lively view of Mexican manners. 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 83 

confusing the imagination into the belief of its being 
a true scene. 

" The next evening the same procession passed, with 
some additions, always accompanied by a crowd of 
Indians from the villages, men, women and children. 
Bonfires were made before the door of the hacienda, 
which were lighted whenever the distant music was 
heard approaching, and all the figures in the proces- 
sion carried lighted lamps. The Saviour was then 
led up to the door, and all the crowd went up to kiss 
his feet. The figure which is carried about this eve- 
ning, is called " Our Saviour of the Column," and 
represents the Saviour tied to a pillar, bleeding and 
crowned with thorns. All this must sound very pro- 
fane, but the people are so quiet, seem so devout, and 
so much in earnest, that it appears much less so than 
you would believe. 

" The cross was planted here in a congenial soil, 
and as in the Pagan East, the statues of the divinities 
frequently did no more than change their names from 
those of heathen gods to those of christian saints, and 
image worship apparently continued, though the mind 
of the Christian was directed from the being repre- 
sented to the true and only God who inhabits eternity. 
So here the poor Indian still bows before visible rep- 
resentations of saints and virgins, as he did in former 
days before the monstrous shapes representing the un- 
seen powers of the air, the earth, and the water; but he, 
it is to be feared, lifts his thoughts no higher than what 
the rude hand has carved. The mysteries of Chris- 
tianity, to affect his untutored mind, must be visibly 
represented to his eyes. He kneels before the bleed- 



84 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 



ing image of the Saviour who died for him, before 
the gracious form of the Virgin who intercedes for 
him ; but he believes that there are many Virgins, 
and possessing various degrees of miraculous power, 
and different degrees of wealth, according to the qual- 
ity and number of the diamonds and pearls with 
which they are endowed, — one even who is the rival 
of the other, one who will bring rain when there is 
drought, and one to whom it is well to pray in sea- 
sons of inundations." 

Among the many acts of injustice inflicted upon the 
nation by the Spaniards, it is pleasant to record an 
incident of another character, and which happened 
under the viceroyalty of a Spaniard, distinguished for 
his vigor in the discharge of official duty. The story 
is as follows: 

" A poor Indian appeared before the viceroy, and 
stated that he had found in the street a bag full of 
golden ounces, which had been advertised, with the 
promise of a handsome reward to the person who 
should restore them to the owner; that upon carry- 
ing it to the Don he received the bag, counted 

the ounces, extracted two, which he had seen him slip 
into his pocket ; and had then reproached the poor 
man with having stolen part of the money, had called 
him a thief and rascal, and instead of rewarding, had 
driven him from the house. With the viceroy there 
was no delay, — immediate action was his plan. De- 
taining the Indian, he despatched an officer to desire 

the attendance of Don with his bag of ounces. 

He came and the viceroy desired him to relate the cir- 
cumstances, his practised eye reading his falsehood at 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 85 

a glance. l May it please your Excellency, I lost a 
bag containing gold. The Indian now in your Excel- 
lency's presence, brought it to me in hopes of a re- 
ward, having first stolen part of the contents. I drove 
him from the house as a thief, who, instead of recom- 
pense, deserves punishment. ' 

" ' Stay,' said the viceroy, i there is some mistake 
here. How many ounces were in the bag you lost? ' 
' Twenty-eight.' 'And how many are here?' 'But 
twenty six/ ' Count them down. I see it is as you 
say. The case is clear, and we have all been mis- 
taken. Had this Indian been a thief, he would never 
have brought back the bag, and stolen merely two 
ounces. He would have kept the whole. It is evi- 
dent, that this is not your bag, but another which this 
poor man has found. Sir, our interview is at an 
end. Continue to search for your bag of gold; and as 
for you, friend, since you cannot find the true owner, 
sweep up these twenty-six pieces and carry them 
away. They are yours.' So saying, his excellency 
bowed out the discomfited cheat and the overjoyed 
rustic." 

The following sketch of the Indians of Uruapa, is 
derived from the same source as the preceding ex- 
tracts, and will give an idea of the condition of the 
people in a large part of Mexico. 

The dress of the Indian women here, is pretty, — 
and they are altogether a much cleaner and better- 
looking race than we have yet seen. They wear 
" naguas" a petticoat of black cotton, with a narrow 
stripe, made very full and rather long; over this, a 
sort of short chemise made of coarse white cotton, and 
v.— 8 



86 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

embroidered in different colored silks. It is called the 
sutunacua, — over all is a black reboso, striped with 
white and blue, with a handsome silk fringe of the 
same colors. When they are married, they add a 
white embroidered veil and a remarkably pretty col- 
ored mantle, which they call guipil. The hair is 
divided, and falls down behind in two long plaits, 
fastened at the top by a bow of ribbon and a flower. 
In this dress, there is no alteration from what they 
wore in former days : saving, that a woman of a 
higher class, wore a dress of fine cotton, with more 
embroidery, and a loose garment over all, resembling 
a priest's surplice, when the weather was cold. 
Among the men, the introduction of trousers is Span- 
ish, — but they still wear the majtlatl, a broad belt 
with the ends tied before and behind, and the tilmatli 
or tilma as they now call it, a sort of square, short 
cloak, the ends of which are tied across the breast or 
over one shoulder. 

A number of the old Indian customs are still kept 
up here, modified by the introduction of Christian 
doctrines in their marriages, feasts, burials and super- 
stitious practices. They also preserve the same sim- 
plicity in their dress, united with the same vanity 
and love of show in their ornaments which always 
distinguished them. The poorest Indian woman still 
wears a necklace of red coral, or a dozen rows of red 
beads, and their dishes are still the gicalli, or as they 
were called by the Spaniards gicaras, made of a species 
of gourd, or rather a fruit resembling it, and growing on 
a low tree, which fruit they cut in two, each one fur- 
nishing two dishes ; the inside is scooped out, and a du- 



THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 87 

rable varnish given it by means of a mineral earth of 
different bright colors, generally red. On the outside 
they paint flowers, and some of them are also gilded. 
They are extremely pretty, very durable and ingeni- 
ous. The beautiful colors which they employ in 
painting these gicaras are composed not only of vari- 
ous mineral productions, but of the wood, leaves and 
flowers of certain plants, of whose properties they have 
no despicable knowledge. Their own dresses, manu- 
factured by themselves of cotton, are extremely pretty, 
and many of them very fine." 

As already stated, the present population of Mexico 
is about 8,000,000. These consist of four classes ; the 
native Spaniards, who are in a depressed state since 
the revolution, and amount only to a few thousands ; 
Spaniards born in the country, called Creoles, and 
constituting the most wealthy and influential class ; 
the mixed castes, a numerous body, and the Indians. 

The Creoles are many of them descended from the 
first conquerors, and are not only proud of their de- 
scent, but having engrossed the greater part of the 
mines and other sources of wealth, are the proprietors 
of the substance of the country. They are fond of 
splendor in dress and equipage, and delight to appear 
on fine horses gaily caparisoned. An income of 
200,000 dollars a year, is not uncommon among them. 
One individual has been known to receive 1,200,000 
dollars a year from his mines alone. This wealthy 
and dominant portion of the community is much ad- 
dicted to gaming and other kinds of dissipation. 

The white race altogether, is estimated at 1,500,000 : 
the Mestizoes may be 2,500,000, and the Indians 



88 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 

4,000,000. These constitute the lowest and most de- 
pressed rank, and may be considered as the cerfs of 
the country. Their number is about half what it was 
at the time of the conquest. The history of the wars 
by which thousands of them were slain ; of their being 
compelled to work in mines, by which many per- 
ished, and multitudes were led to put an end to their 
unhappy existence ; with the continued pressure of 
despotism for three centuries, and the consequent 
degradation, will sufficiently explain this wasting of 
the race. It is painful to admit, in taking leave of 
this renowned nation, that the future seems to offer a 
prospect but little brighter than that which lies in the 
backward view of the dark and painful past. 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 




The country which was formerly known under the 
name of Guatimala, has recently adopted a republican 
government, and is known by the title of Central 
America. It lies to the south of Mexico, and consists 
in part of the isthmus which connects North and South 
America. The country is mountainous, and has at 
least twenty volcanoes in constant activity. Its chief 
rivers are the Chiapa and St. Juan, and the principal 
8* 



90 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 

lakes Nicaragua and Leon. The western coast is 
subject to terrific earthquakes, which have over- 
whelmed cities, and exterminated complete tribes of 
people. It is a prolific country, abounding in the use- 
ful and luscious products of nature. 

At the time of the invasion of Cortes, this and the 
adjacent territories were occupied by the Toltecs, who 
appear to have moved hither, and farther south, after 
their departure from Mexico. The country was then 
exceedingly populous, and was studded with numerous 
and flourishing cities. 

The country of Guatimala was occupied by a peo- 
ple called Quiches. Their king was Tecum Umam, 
and their capital Utatlan. A Spanish commander 
named Alvarado was despatched by Cortes to conquer 
this country. In this he succeeded, after many des- 
perate struggles. Six battles took place on the banks 
of the river Zimala, which in that vicinity received 
the title of the Eiver of Blood. 

At this time Utatlan abounded in palaces and other 
sumptuous edifices, being hardly surpassed in splendor 
by Mexico and Cuzco. It was encompassed by a lofty 
wall, and was capable of being entered only at two 
points ; on one side by a causeway, and on the other 
by a flight of steps. Within, the buildings stood high 
and compact. In the hope of exterminating their ene- 
mies, the Quiches invited the Spaniards into their capi- 
tal, pretending a willingness to submit. AftQr their 
entrance, the Quiches set fire to the city, and if the 
Indians of another tribe had not been false to their 
countrymen, Alvarado and his followers would have 
perished. Having escaped this danger, the Spaniards 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 91 

pursued their victorious course until all opposition was 
crushed, and in 1524 laid the foundation of the city of 
Guatimala. 

The bigot rage of the Spaniards was directed not 
only against the superstitions of the Indians, with the 
temples and idols consecrated to them, but even against 
the palaces and other monuments of the people whom 
they conquered. The city of Mexico, as is well known, 
was totally destroyed by Cortes. The other cities of 
Mexico and Guatimala were in process of time de- 
populated, fell into decay, and their ruins became so 
overgrown with trees that all knowledge of them for 
the most part was lost. Dr. Robertson, in a note to 
his History of America, makes the following state- 
ment : — " I am informed by a person who resided long 
in New Spain, and visited almost every province of 
it, that there is not in all the extent of that vast empire, 
any monument or vestige of any building more ancient 
than the conquest ! " The author of another account 
in manuscript observes that " at this day there does not 
remain even the smallest vestige of the existence of 
any ancient Indian building, public or private, either 
in Mexico or in any province of New Spain." In the 
course of the last century, however, some vague ac- 
counts reached Europe respecting the ruins of an 
ancient city at Palenque, on the southern border of 
Mexico. These were explored by order of the Span- 
ish government, and found to exhibit architecture and 
sculpture of a very extraordinary character. But such 
was the jealousy of this government, that the results 
of these researches were for a long time concealed from 
the world. 



92 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 

The first new light thrown upon the subject of 
Mexican antiquities was by the celebrated traveller 
Humboldt, who visited the country at a time when by 
the cautious policy of the government, it was almost 
as much closed against strangers as the empire of 
China. The monuments of the country were not a 
leading object of his inquiries, but he collected from 
various sources information, and drawings of many 
antiquities, particularly of those at Mitla, in the south- 
ern part of Mexico :— this name is a contraction of the 
word Miguitlan, signifying, in the Mexican language, 
the Place of Woe, or Desolation. The term appears 
to have been well chosen for a site so dreary and lugu- 
brious that, according to the narration of travellers, 
the warbling of birds is there scarcely ever heard. 
According to the traditions that have been preserved, 
this was the spot where the ashes of the Tzapotec 
princes reposed. The sovereign, at the death of a son 
or brother, withdrew into one of the habitations which 
were here erected over the tombs, to deliver himself 
up to grief and religious rites. These edifices are 
now in ruins, but the plans of five separate buildings 
have been made out, and they seem to have been dis- 
posed with great regularity. The walls of these build- 
ings were covered with ornaments consisting of mosaic 
and carved work, remarkable for their elegance. In 
the neighborhood of these ruins are the remains of a 
great pyramid. 

Another singular monument of which Humboldt 
obtained information, was Xochicalco or the House of 
Flowers, near the city of Cuernuvaca. This struc- 
ture consists of five stories or terraces, narrowing as 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 93 

they ascend, and about sixty feet high. The platform 
at the .summit is a square of 200 feet by 280. In the 
centre of this square are the remains of a pyramidal 
structure five more stories in height. Every traveller 
has been struck with the polish and cut of the stones, 
and the nicety with which they are joined without 
cement. These stones are covered with sculptures, 
among which are figures of the heads of crocodiles 
spouting water, and men sitting cross-legged according 
to the Asiastic custom. Notwithstanding these orna- 
ments it is evident that Xochicalco was designed for a 
military fortress. The terraces are furnished with 
stone battlements, and the whole structure is surround- 
ed by a deep and very broad ditch, so that the whole 
fortification is above two miles in circumference. 
Humboldt assures us that on the heights of the Cor- 
dilleras of Peru he has seen monuments still larger 
than this ; and that the American works of this class 
resemble those which are daily discovered in the east- 
ern parts of Asia. 

The most successful of all the explorers of these 
antiquities has been Mr. Stephens, who made two expe- 
ditions to this part of the world for the purpose of 
antiquarian research. It is to his works that we are 
indebted for the substance of the following description. 
The first ruins which he visited were those of Copan, 
which stand on the branch of a small river falling into 
the bay of Honduras. Copan was once a very large 
and well-built city, but the ruins are now almost en- 
tirely overgrown with trees. Many remains of the 
city wall are to be seen, of cut stone, well laid, and in 
good preservation. " We ascended," says the travel- 



94 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 



ler, " by large stone steps, in some places perfect, and 
in others thrown down by trees which had grown up 




between the crevices, and reached a terrace, the form 
of which it was impossible to make out from the 
density of the forest in which it was enveloped. Our 
guide cleared a way with his matchete (chopping-knife) 
and we passed, as it lay half buried in the earth, a 
large fragment of stone, elaborately sculptured, and 
came to the angle of a structure, with steps on the 
sides, in form and appearance, so far as the trees would 
enable us to make it out, like the sides of a pyramid. 
Diverging from the base, and working our way through 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 95 

the thick woods, we came upon a square stone column 
about fourteen feet high and three feet on each side, 
sculptured in very bold relief on all four of the sides 
from the base to the top. The front was the figure 
of a man, curiously and richly dressed, and the face, 
evidently a portrait, solemn, stern, and well fitted to 
excite terror. The back was of a different design, un- 
like anything we had ever seen before, and the sides 
were covered with hieroglyphics. This our guide 
called an idol, and before it at a distance of three feet 
was a large block of stone, also sculptured with fig- 
ures and emblematical devices, which he called an 
altar. The sight of this monument put at rest, at 
once and forever in our minds, all uncertainty in re- 
gard to the character of American antiquities, and 
gave us the assurance that the objects we were in 
search of were interesting, not only as the remains of 
an unknown people, but as works of art ; proving, 
like newly discovered historical records, that the peo- 
ple who once occupied the continent of America, were 
not savages. 

" With an interest perhaps stronger than we had 
ever felt in Wandering among the ruins of Egypt, we 
followed our guide, who, sometimes missing his way, 
with a constant use of his machete, conducted us 
through the thick forest, among half buried fragments, 
to fourteen monuments of the same character and ap- 
pearance ; some with more elegant designs, and some 
in workmanship equal to the finest monuments of the 
Egyptians; one displaced from its pedestal by enor- 
mous roots, another locked in the close embrace of 
branches of trees and almost lifted out of the earth : 



96 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 

another hurled to the ground and bowed down by 
huge vines and creepers: and one standing with its 
altar before it, in a grove of trees which grew around 
it, seemingly to shade and shroud it as a sacred thing: 
in the solemn stillness of the woods, it seemed a di- 
vinity mourning over a fallen people. The only 
sounds that disturbed the quiet of this buried city, 
were the noise of monkeys moving among the tops of 
the trees and the cracking of dry branches broken by 
their weight. They moved over our heads in long and 
swift processions, forty or fifty at a time, some with 
little ones wound in their long arms, walking out to 
the end of boughs and holding on with their hind feet 
or a curl of the tail, sprang to a branch of the next 
tree, and with a noise like a current of wind, passed 
on into the depths of the forest. It was the first time 
we had seen these mockeries of humanity, and with 
the strange monuments around us, they seemed like 
wandering spirits of the departed race guarding the 
ruins of their former habitations. 

" We returned to the base of the pyramidal structure, 
and ascended by regular stone steps, in some places 
forced apart by bushes and saplings, and in others, 
thrown down by the growth of large trees, while some 
remained entire. In parts they were ornamented with 
sculptured figures and rows of death's heads. Climb- 
ing over the ruined top, we reached a terrace overgrown 
with trees, and crossing it, descended by stone steps into 
an area so covered with trees that at first we could not 
make out its form>but which, on clearing the way with 
the machete, we ascertained to be a square, and with 
steps on all the sides almost as perfect as those of the 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 97 

Roman amphitheatre. The steps were ornamented 
with sculpture, and on the south side about half way 
up, forced out of its place by roots, was a colossal 
head, evidently a portrait. We ascended these steps 
and reached a broad terrace a hundred feet high, 
overlooking the river, and supported by the wall which 
we had seen from the opposite bank. The whole 
terrace was covered with trees, and even at this height 
from the ground were two gigantic ceibas, or wild 
cotton trees of India, about twenty feet in circumfer- 
ence, extending their half-naked roots fifty or a hun- 
dred feet around, binding down the ruins and shading 
them with their wide spreading branches. We sat 
down on the very edge of the wall and strove in vain 
to penetrate the mystery by which we were sur- 
rounded. 

" Trudging once more, next morning, over the dis- 
trict which contained the principal monument, we 
were startled by the immensity of the work before us, 
and very soon we concluded, that to explore the whole 
extent would be impossible. Our guides knew only 
of this district, but having seen columns beyond the 
village, a league distant, we had reason to believe 
that others were strewed in different directions, com- 
pletely buried in the woods and entirely unknown. 
The woods were so dense that it was almost hopeless 
to think of penetrating them. The only way to make 
a thorough exploiation, would be to cut down the 
whole forest and burn the trees. This was incompa- 
tible with our immediate purposes, might be consid- 
ered taking liberties, and could only be done in the 
dry season. After deliberation, we resolved first to 
G v.— 9 



yo ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 

obtain drawings of the sculptured columns. Even in 
this there was great difficulty : the designs were very 
complicated and so different from anything Mr. Cath- 
erwood had ever seen before, as to be perfectly unin- 
telligible. The cutting was in very high relief, and 
required a strong body of light to bring up the figures ; 
and the foliage was so thick and the shade so deep, 
that drawing was impossible. 

"After much consultation we selected one of the 
idols, and determined to cut down the trees around it 
and thus lay it open to the rays of the sun. Here 
again was difficulty. There was no axe; and the 
only instrument which the Indians possessed was the 
machete, which varies in form in different parts of the 
country. Wielded in one hand it was useful in clear- 
ing away shrubs and branches, but almost harmless 
upon large trees, and the Indians, as in the days when 
the Spaniards discovered them, applied to work with- 
out ardor, carried it on with little activity, and like 
children were easily diverted from it. One hacked 
into a tree, and when tired, which happened very 
soon, sat down to rest, and another relieved him. 
While one worked there were always several looking 
on. I remembered the ring of the woodman's axe in 
the forest at home, and wished for a few long-sided 
Green Mountain boys. But we had been buffeted 
into patience, and w^atched the Indians while they 
hacked with their machetes, and even wondered that 
they succeeded so well. It is impossible to describe 
the interest with which I explored these ruins. The 
ground was entirely new ; there were no guide books 
or guides ; the whole was a virgin soil. We could 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 99 

not see ten yards before us, and never knew what we 
should stumble upon next. At one time we stopped 
to cut away branches and vines which concealed the 
face of a monument, and then to dig around and bring 
to light a fragment, a sculptured corner of which pro- 
truded from the earth. I leaned over with breathless 
anxiety while the Indians worked, and an eye, an ear, 
a foot or a hand was disentombed : and when the 
machete rang against the chiseled stone, I pushed the 
Indians away and cleared out the loose earth with my 
hands. The beauty of the sculpture, the solemn 
stillness of the woods, disturbed only by the scramb- 
ling of monkeys and the chattering of parrots, the 
desolation of the city, and the mystery that hung over 
it, all created an interest higher, if possible, than I had 
ever felt among the ruins of the Old World." 

Many drawings of the sculptures above described, 
have been published in the work of Mr. Stephens. 
Viewed with reference to their rank as works of art, 
they may be placed high in the scale of architectural 
sculpture. To the elegance and sublimity of the 
Greek and Roman schools, they have no pretensions 
whatever; nor have they the severe grandeur of the 
best specimens of the Egyptian ; but they appear to 
be vastly superior to anything which India or China 
or Japan has ever produced. Their chief merit lies 
in their general effect. The figures are ill propor- 
tioned, and even hideous, and the subordinate parts 
confused and overcharged ; but they differ from all 
the barbarous styles of sculpture with which we are 
acquainted, in this, that their general effect is not only 
rich and beautiful, but dignified and imposing to a 

LofC. 



100 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA, 



degree which we could hardly have supposed possible 
to result from the combining of so many uncouth and 
incongruous parts. 




Bas relief at Palenque. 

At Palenque, in Mexico, are very interesting anti- 
quities, surrounded with thick woods, like those of 
Copan. They consist of palaces and other structures 
of stone abounding in sculptures. As works of art 
they are greatly superior to the antiquities of Co- 
pan. All of these are built on high terraces, form- 
ing the summit of a truncated pyramid. The largest 
structure stands on an artificial elevation of an oblong 
form, forty feet high, three hundred long, and two 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 101 

hundred and sixty broad. The roof of the building 
was made to curve in a sort of arch by successive 
layers of stones, each overlapping that immediately 
beneath it, and plastered over so as to represent a 
smooth curved surface. The top of the doorway in 
the middle wall is by this means wrought into an 
exact resemblance of a Gothic arch. This structure 
abounds with courts, corridors, galleries, towers, &c, 
and was, without doubt, a royal palace. The piers, 
or square columns, of which there are many, are cov- 
ered with bas reliefs in stucco. The faces of the 
human figures are all in profile, which seems to indi- 
cate the want of a sufficient skill to delineate the front 
face : but the limbs are correctly formed, and fre- 
quently graceful. There is also some attempt to 
arrange the figures in groups, so as to tell a story ; 
and a variety of expressions, of the same imperfect 
kind as is seen in the Egyptian paintings, can be 
recognized in the countenances. On one piece is 
represented an armed warrior, with two half-naked 
figures crouching submissively on either side of him. 
On another, we see an armed warrior brandishing his 
weapon over the head of a person who seems to kneel 
and beg for life. On another, a standing figure is 
placing an ornament upon a person sitting in front of 
him, &c.' 

The most curious among all the sculptures at Pal- 
enque, has been found in one of the smaller buildings. 
It represents an ornamented cross, surmounted by the 
Quezale, or royal bird of Quiche. Two persons, 
dressed apparently in sacerdotal garments, stand on 
the right and left, facing the cross, and one of them 
holds out something as an offering, which appears to 
9* 



102 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 



be a young child. The whole representation is sur- 
rounded by hieroglyphics which no one has been 
able to decipher. No doubt can be entertained that 
these sculptures existed previous to the arrival of the 
Spaniards in America ; and therefore the circumstance 
of the cross being found represented in a picture of 
what is evidently a religious ceremony, has given rise 
to much curious speculation. There is another tablet 
which is almost a fac-simile of this ; and hieroglyph i- 
cal characters , are to be seen in other parts of the 
ruins. They have been found to bear a close resem- 
blance to those exhibited by the ancient Mexican 
manuscripts. 




lluins at Uxmal. 



At Uxmal, in Yucatan, are also ancient buildings 
in good preservation. One of these, as described by 
Mr. Norman, who recently visited this region, stands 



ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 103 

on three ranges of terraces, the lowest 600 feet long, 
and the whole rising to the height of 35 feet, all built 
of hewn stone. The palace upon the summit is 320 
feet in length, and stands with all its walls erect, 
almost as perfect as when occupied by its inhabitants. 
The whole building is of stone, plain up to the mould- 
ing that runs along the tops of the doorway, and above, 
filled with rich and elaborate sculpture bearing no 
resemblance to that of Copan or Palenque. Among 
the intelligible subjects, are squares and diamonds, 
with busts of human beings, heads of leopards, com- 
positions of leaves and flowers, a,nd those peculiar 
ornaments known in Europe as grecques; the whole 
forming an extraordinary mass of richness and com- 
plexity, with an effect both grand and curious. There 
is no rudeness or barbarity in the design or propor- 
tions of the building; on the contrary, the whole 
wears an air of architectural symmetry and grandeur : 
and as the stranger ascends the steps, and casts a 
bewildered eye along its open and desolate doors, it 
is hard to believe that he sees before him the work of 
a race of men deserving the name which has been 
bestowed upon them by their historians, of savages, 
ignorant of art. If it stood at this day in one of the 
capitals of Europe, it would form a new order of ar= 
chitecture, if not equalling the remains of the Egyp- 
tian, Grecian and Roman art, at least not unworthy 
to stand side by side with them. 

The antiquities we have described, are only a por- 
tion of what may be seen by a traveller in Central 
America: those countries, doubtless, contain the re- 
mains of many ancient cities, yet undiscovered. But 



104 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 

what we have related will give the reader an insight 
into the state of civilization which existed among the 
aborigines of this region at the period of its discovery 
by the Spaniards. The present state of the Indians 
of Guatimala, is similar to that of those in Mexico. 
They are about half the population of the republic, 
which is 1,200,000. 









W 
V 



INDIANS OF PERU. 




Manco Capac and Mama Oello* 

Peru lies on the western coast of South. America, 
and is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean. It 
came to the knowledge of the Spaniards about' the 
year 1513, and was soon after visited by the celebrated 
Francis Pizarro. In 1531, this adventurer penetrated 
into the country with a small force, seized upon the 
Inca, or emperor, and treacherously put him to death. 
He then proceeded to subjugate the kingdom and 



106 INDIANS OF PERU. 

reduce it to the Spanish authority. It remained as a 
dependency of Spain till the year 1820, when a revo- 
lutionary war broke out, which resulted in the inde- 
pendence of the country. 

The early history of this region, as derived from the 
traditions of the people — for there were no written or 
pictured records — was as follows : — It was originally 
occupied by independent tribes, justly reckoned among 
the most savage, even in America ; living more like 
wild beasts than men. For several ages they lived in 
this manner, when suddenly there appeared on the 
banks of a lake called Titicaca, a man and woman of 
majestic form and clothed in decent garments. They 
declared themselves to be the Children of the Sun, 
sent by their Beneficent Parent to instruct and reclaim 
mankind. 

The names of these two extraordinary personages 
were Manco Capac and Mama Oello. At their per- 
suasions, several of the dispersed savages united, and. 
receiving their commands as heavenly injunctions, fol- 
lowed them to Cuzco, where they settled and began 
to lay the foundations of a city. Manco Capac taught 
the men the arts of agriculture, and his wife instructed 
the women in spinning, weaving, and other house- 
hold duties. 

Manco Capac, whose pride would acknowledge no 
less illustrious an ancestor than the sun, founded the 
empire of Peru, A. D. 1025. Whence he came is 
not known; but it has been suggested that Japan 
was his original country. At any rate, after high 
gales of wind, junks have frequently been driven 
ashore on the western coast of America, which may 



INDIANS OF PERU. 107 

indicate by what means a portion of the settlers 
reached Peru. Be his derivation, however, what it 
may, Manco Capac and his lineal successors estab- 
lished regulations so judicious, and laws so wise, 
governed with such ability, and reclaimed so many 
wild tribes from savage life, that, at the beginning of 
the sixteenth century, their empire extended from the 
river Ancosmayu, between Pasto and Popayan, to the 
river Maule, in Chili, in 35 deg. south, a length of 
thirty-seven degrees of latitude, or about two thousand 
miles in a straight line. Its breadth varied from three 
hundred to one thousand miles, and its population was 
estimated by Garcilaso de Yega at above ten millions. 
According to a statement made by Senor Morales y 
Duares, reported in El Diario de las Cortes of the 11th 
of January, 181 1, the census taken in 1575 by Loy- 
aisa, assisted by the Oidor Don Andres Ziancas, and 
the Dominican friar Domingo Santo Thomas, gave for 
the total, 8.225.000 souls ; so that the population had 
already decreased nearly 2,000,000, The Guichua 
was the national language throughout the empire of 
the Incas, and is to this day spoken by a majority of 
the inhabitants of the republic of the Excuador, (for- 
merly the captain-generalship of Quito,) and in Peru, 
as well as by the inhabitants of Santiago del Estero, 
a midland province of the Argentine Pampas. This 
last circumstance proves that the dominion of the 
Incas extended very far to the east, as well as to the 
west, of the Andes. 

These monarchs were hereditary, and their rule 
partook something of the patriarchal character. Un- 
der the sway of twelve successive Incas, Peru advanced 



108 



INDIANS OF PERU. 



rapidly in the arts of peace and war, and prospered for 
upwards of five hundred years, until the death of 
Huayna Capac at Quito, in 1525, a few months after 
the Spaniards had made their first appearance on the 
coast of Choco. 

Thus, as we are told, was founded the empire of the 
Incas, or lords of Peru. At first its extent was small, 
the territory of Manco Capac not reaching above 
twenty-five miles from Cuzco, his capital : but it was 
gradually extended, rather for the benign purpose of 
spreading the blessings of peace and the arts than for 
conquest, until it embraced the great territory we have 
described. 

Inhabitants. — Though the vast dominion of the 
Incas embraced many different tribes, and of course 
there must have been some diversity of character 
among them, still they all possessed the leading traits 
of the great American family : the copper color, long, 
lank, black hair, a thin beard, broad flat nose, and 
black eyes set obliquely in the head. The Peruvians, 
however, were marked with a gentleness of character 
which greatly distinguished them from the Caribs and 
Brazilians occupying the eastern coast of South 
America. They had small feet, well turned limbs, 
and generally a somewhat less robust form than the 
Indians of other tribes. Their institutions and civili- 
zation, so remarkably contrasted with those of Mexico, 
seemed to harmonize w^ith their gentle character, and 
to be a just reflexion of their mental and moral na- 
ture. They are supposed to have belonged to the 
Toltec branch of the American race, and it has been 
inferred that their ancestors came to this country from 



INDIANS OF PERU. 109 

the north, passing west of the great chain of the Cor- 
dilleras. 

Dress. — It would appear that the Peruvians pos- 
sessed that love of display common to a "barbarous 
people. When Atahualpa had his first interview with 
Pizarro, he appeared before him with nearly the same 
pomp that attended Montezuma in his introduction to 
Cortes. The Inca approached the Spaniard, being 
preceded by four hundred men in a uniform dress. 
He was himself seated on a throne, the latter being 
decorated with plumes of various colors and covered 
with plates of gold and silver, sprinkled with precious 
stones. Behind him came some of the chief officers 
of his court, carried in the same manner. 

The dress of the common people was made of cloth 
from various substances, especially from the hair of 
the llama. The body of both men and women was 
covered below the waist. The head of the chief peo- 
ple was usually ornamented with a crown of feathers 
set upright in a circle, and their persons were deco- 
rated with precious stones. Jewels were often worn 
in the ears of all classes. Besides a petticoat, the 
women wore shawls, fastened at the corners upon the 
left shoulder : the men had square pieces of cloth, 
worn as cloaks. 

Buildings and other Structures. — The superior 
ingenuity of the Peruvians was obvious in the con- 
struction of their houses and public buildings. In the 
extensive plains which stretch along the Pacific Ocean 
where the sky is perpetually serene, and the climate 
mild, their houses were very properly of a fabric 
extremely slight. But in the higher regions, where 
v.— 10 



110 



INDIANS OF PERU. 



rain falls, where the vicissitude of seasons is known 
and their rigor felt, houses were constructed with 
greater solidity. They were generally of a square 
form, the walls about eight feet high, built with bricks 




hardened in the sun, without any windows, and the 
door low and straight. Simple as these structures 
were, and rude as the materials may seem to be of 
which they were formed, they were so durable that 
many of them still subsist in different parts of Peru. 

But it was in the temples consecrated to the Sun and 
in the buildings destined for the residence of their 
monarchs, that the Peruvians displayed the utmost 
extent of their art and contrivance. The descriptions 
of them by such of the Spanish writers as had an 
opportunity of contemplating them, while, in some 
measure, entire, might have appeared highly exagge- 
rated, if the ruins which still remain did not vouch 



INDIANS OF PERU. Ill 

the truth of their relations. These ruins of sacred 
or royal buildings are found in every province of the 
empire, and by their frequency demonstrate that they 
are monuments of a powerful people, who must have 
subsisted, during a period of some extent, in a state of 
no inconsiderable improvement 

There appear to have been edifices various in their 
dimensions, — some of a moderate size, many of im- 
mense extent, all remarkable for solidity, and resem- 
bling each other in the style of architecture. The 
temple of Pachacamae at Cuzco, together with the 
palace of the Inca, and a fortress were so connected 
as to form one great structure above half a league in 
circuit. In this prodigious pile, the same singular 
taste in building is conspicuous, as in other works of 
the Peruvians. 

As they were unacquainted with the use of the 
pulley and other mechanical powers, and could not 
elevate the large stones and bricks, which they em- 
ployed in building, to any considerable height, the 
walls of this edifice, in which they seem to have made 
their greatest effort towards magnificence, did not rise 
above twelve feet from the ground. Though they had 
not discovered the use of mortar, or any other cement 
in building, the brick or stones were joined with so 
much nicety that the seams can hardly be discerned. 

The apartments, so far as the distribution of them 
can be traced in the ruins, were ill disposed, and 
afforded little accommodation. There was not a single 
window in any part of the building ; and as no light 
could enter but by the door, all the apartments of large 
size must either have been perfectly dark, or illumi- 



112 



INDIANS OF PERU. 



nated by some other means. But with all these and 
many other imperfections in their art of building, the 
works of the Peruvians which still remain must be 
considered as stupendous efforts of a people unac- 
quainted with the use of iron. Acosta measured a 
stone, in one of the buildings, which was thirty feet 
long, eighteen broad, and six wide, and he adds that 
there were some in the fortress at Cuzco much larger. 

Utensils. — The tools used in the arts will be no- 
ticed hereafter. Of the articles of furniture we have 
not a very distinct account. They had mirrors of 
hard shining stone, vessels of earthen-ware of various 
forms, hatchets of stone and copper for war and other 
purposes. They had gold and silver in profusion, and 
of these precious metals, they not only made various 
trinkets for personal decoration, but vases and vessels 
for use or display. Many of their works in these 
metals were worthy of great praise for their exquisite 
manufacture. 

Travelling. — The only animals domesticated in 
Peru, were ducks and llamas ; the latter appear to have 
been used only to carry burthens, and not to support 
persons on their backs. The travelling was there- 
fore on foot, there being no vehicles of any kind. 
When the Inca met Pizarro at Caxamaleo, he was 
seated on a throne, and carried on the shoulders of his 
principal attendants. The couriers of Peru were ac- 
customed to bear their messages with great rapidity, 
and it is said crossed the rivers by swimming, with 
wonderful celerity. They had advanced no farther in 
naval skill than the use of the paddle or oar, with the 
occasional employment of a mast and small sail, upon 



INDIANS OF PERU. 113 

their balsars or floats. These went nimbly before the 
wind, but could not tack with any great facility. Of 
the roads and bridges, and the modes of crossing riv- 
ers we have elsewhere given an account. 

Food and Drink. — The Peruvians used various 
kinds of vegetable food, which they cooked by boiling. 
It is remarkable, however, that they ate flesh raw. 
Maize was a staple article of food. In the earlier 
periods of their history, they devoured human flesh, 
but this practice ceased from the time of Manco Ca- 
pac. The public regulations insured a full supply of 
food, and even in times of greatest scarcity, there was 
enough to prevent suffering. A favorite drink was 
made by steeping maize flour in water. 

Government.— The Government established, by 
Manco Capac, continued from its formation to the 
conquest, a space of about three centuries. At first, 
as we have stated, his territories were confined to nar- 
row limits, but they were afterwards greatly enlarged. 
Still his successors followed implicitly in his footsteps. 
Their authority was absolute, and they were not only 
obeyed as monarchs, but reverenced as deities. Their 
blood was held to be sacred, and intermarriages with 
the people being prohibited, was never contaminated 
by mixing with that of any other race. The family 
thus separated from the rest of the nation, was dis- 
tinguished by peculiarities in dress and ornaments, 
w r hich it was unlawful for others to assume. The 
Incas were regarded not only as rulers, but as messen- 
gers of heaven. Their injunctions were received as the 
precepts of a superior, as the mandates of the Deity. 
To insure the noble blood against intermixture, the 

H 10* 



114 INDIANS OF PERU. 

sons of Manco Capac married their own sisters, and 
no person was ever admitted to the throne, who could 
not claim it by descent from this indisputable source. 
They were deemed to be under the immediate direc- 
tion of the Deity, from whom they issued, and by him 
every order of the reigning Inca was supposed to be 
dictated. 

Not only was a blind submission yielded to their 
sovereigns by the people at large, but persons of the 
highest rank and greatest power in their dominions, 
acknowledged them to be of a more exalted nature ; 
and in testimony of this, when admitted into their 
presence, they entered with a burden upon their shoul- 
ders as an emblem of their servitude and willingness 
to bear whatever the Inca was pleased to impose. 
Among their subjects force was not requisite to second 
their commands. Every officer intrusted with the 
execution of them, was revered, and according to the 
account of an intelligent observer of Peruvian man- 
ners, he might proceed alone from one extremity of 
the empire to another, without meeting opposition ; 
for on producing a fringe from the royal borla, an or- 
nament of the head peculiar to the reigning Inca, the 
lives and fortunes of the people were at his disposal. 

As a consequence of these views of the divine char- 
acter of the rulers, all crimes were considered as sins 
against the Deity, and were, consequently, immediately 
punished with death. Among a corrupt people a code so 
severe would have rendered men ferocious and desper- 
ate, and tended rather to multiply than prevent crime. 
But the Peruvians, of simple manners and unsuspi- 
cious faith, were held in such awe by this rigid dis- 



INDIANS OF PERU. 115 

cipline, that the number of offenders was extremely 
small. Veneration for monarchs enlightened and di- 
rected, as they believed, by the divinity whom they 
adored, prompted them to their duty ; the dread of 
punishment, which they were taught to consider as 
unavoidable vengeance inflicted by offended Heaven, 
withheld them from evil. 

In war, prisoners were treated with lenity, and in a 
manner to make them become the faithful followers 
of the Children of the Sun. In extending their do- 
minions, the Incas are represented as having sought 
only to impart to the barbarous people whom they 
reduced, the benefits of their beneficent institutions. 

The laws of the country entered minutely into the 
affairs of life, regulated religious rites and ceremonies, 
distributed the lands and prescribed the mode of cul- 
tivation. The state of property was not less singular 
than the religion. All the lands capable of cultivation, 
were divided into three shares ; one was consecrated 
to the Sun, and the product of it was applied to the 
erection of temples, and furnishing what was requisite 
towards celebrating the public rites of religion. The 
second belonged to the Inca, a.nd was set apart as the 
provision made by the community for the support of 
government. The third and largest share was re- 
served for the maintenance of the people, among 
whom it was parcelled out. Neither individuals, 
however, nor communities, had a right of exclusive 
property in the portion set apart for their use. They 
possessed it only for the year, at the expiration of which, 
a new division was made in proportion to the rank, the 
number and exigences of each family. All these 



116 INDIANS OF PERU. 

lands were cultivated by the joint industry of the com- 
munity. The people, summoned by a proper officer, 
repaired in a body to the fields and performed their 
common task, while songs and musical instruments 
cheered them to their labor. 

The distinction of ranks was fully established. A 
great body of the inhabitants, under the denomination 
of YanaconaSj were held in a state of servitude. 
Their garb and houses were of a form different from 
those of freemen. — Like the Tamenes of Mexico, they 
were employed in carrying burdens and in performing 
every other act of drudgery. Next to them in rank, 
were such of the people as were free, but distinguished 
by no official or hereditary honors. Above them 
were raised those whom the Spaniards called Ore- 
jones, from the ornaments worn in their ears. They 
formed what may be denominated the order of nobles, 
and in peace as well as war, held every office of 
power or trust. At the head of all were the Children 
of the Sun, who by their high descent and peculiar 
privileges, were as much exalted above the Orejones, 
as these were elevated above the people. 

An early result of any conquest performed by the 
Incas was a census of their newly acquired subjects. 
Having named governors and teachers of the worship 
of the Sun, a provincial return was made in quipos 
of the quantities of meadow-land, upland, lowland, 
arable land, inheritances, mines, salt grounds, foun- 
tains, lakes, rivers, indigenous fruit-trees, cattle, &c. &c. 
Another return was ordered for each district, and a 
third return of the property of each individual. A 
just distribution was then effected, and the old proprie- 



INDIANS OF PERU. 117 

tors were assisted with implements, clothing, food, &c. 
to make the most of their property under the new 
arrangement. At the same time they were compelled 
clearly to understand the nature and extent of their 
public duties. Landmarks were put, and names given 
to those places, rivers, woods, hills, llama-walks, and 
fountains, which had before received no names. To 
facilitate intercourse between the towns, roads were 
made. Of these the two most celebrated were the 
coast-road and the mountain-road from Cuzco to Quito. 
Early Spanish writers describe them as exceeding the 
seven wonders of the world. On spots commanding 
extensive views, an area, reached by flights of steps 
cut in the rocks, was cleared as a resting-place for the 
Incas. Several causeways, forming originally part of 
the mountain-road, still exist. Baron Humboldt, speak- 
ing of one of them, compares it to the fine roads of 
Italy, or Spain. 

It is clear that the well-being of the people was 
sought by the Incas, and is even averred that their con- 
quests were undertaken for the spread of civilization, 
which in reality did attend their steps. The heir- 
apparent, on arriving at manhood, usually made the 
tour of the realm. On his accession, also, it became 
an early duty to make another survey, occupying 
sometimes from three to four or five years. During 
a protracted reign the royal progress was repeated more 
than once. Having made himself personally known 
in every section, redressed grievances, ordered public 
improvements, promoted industry, sanctioned the na- 
tional pastimes, and by his mere presence diffused 
general satisfaction, the monarch, on his return to the 



118 INDIANS OF PERU. 

seat of empire, directed his attention to some frontier 
nation which he was desirous of incorporating with his 
dominion. The same policy was observed in every 
reign, and, if anything can justify an unvarying sys- 
tem of territorial aggrandisement, it is the benignant 
purposes to which the Incas applied their acquisitions. 

When a new conquest had been determined on, a 
competent force was assembled under one commander. 
On approaching the scene of operations, the unsubdued 
tribe was invoked by a solemn embassy to annex their 
territory to the empire and to its worship and laws, 
retaining such of their own customs and usages as 
were not in opposition to those of the Incas. To such 
terms the wild tribes frequently acceded at once ; but 
occasionally a spirited answer was returned as the 
prelude to hostilities. To the summons from Capac 
Zupanqui, brother to the Inca Pachacutec, who died 
in 1400, the chiefs of the densely peopled country 
of Chincha gave the following reply : — 

" We neither want to have the Inca for a king, nor 
the sun for a god ; we already have a god whom we 
adore, and a king whom we serve. Our god is the 
ocean, and everybody may see that it is greater than 
the sun ; and that it besides yields to us an abundance 
of food, whereas the sun does us no good whatever; 
on the contrary, he oppresses us with too much heat in 
our sultry region, and we have no occasion for it, as 
they have who live amidst cold mountains, where it 
may be right to worship him because he is useful there. 
^ * * * The Inca had better return 
homewards without entering into war with the lord and 
king of Chincha, who is a most puissant ruler.' ' 



INDIANS OF PERU. 119 

It very rarely occurred that the Incas desisted from 
any of their attempts at conquest. The only known 
serious check they ever met with was from the Arau- 
canians, who have since resisted, for 300 years, the 
firearms of the Spaniards, and still exist as an inde- 
pendent people, occupying that finest portion of Chili, 
which lies between the Rio Bio and Valdivia. Find- 
ing that untameable race too proud to amalgamate with 
a more civilized one, and strong enough to preserve 
the liberty they loved, the Incas discreetly abstained 
from further attempts to push their conquests in that 
direction, and the Maule became the southern boundary 
of their empire. 

The trial of strength which led to this unwonted 
forbearance was a drawn battle fought to the south of 
the Maule in the early part of the fifteenth century, 
between 20,000 Peruvians and 18,000 Araucanians. 
The combat raged for three days, each party returning 
every night to its own strong position. At the close 
of the third day's fighting it was ascertained that about 
every second man of both armies had been killed, and 
that most of the survivors were wounded. On the 
fourth morning the remnant of each force formed each 
within its fortified position, and stood there facing each 
other in sullen defiance till nightfall. The fifth and 
sixth days were passed in the same manner ; but by 
the seventh both belligerent parties had retired, each 
fearing that the other might receive a reinforcement. 

But the frequent new accessions of territory that 
were made were sufficient to keep the ruling powers 
in activity. Upon the completion of every conquest 
or peaceable annexation, by the establishment of the 



120 INDIANS OF PERU. 

laws and the religion of the Incas, all the land of the 
recent acquisition susceptible of cultivation was meas- 
ured and apportioned out in three shares, — for the 
church, the state, and the commonalty, as in the rest of 
the empire. When such acquisitions lay on the sultry 
coast, water-courses were made under the direction of 
able engineers; and extensive tracts of desert, com- 
posed of sand with a large admixture of loam, were 
transformed into productive levels, partly through the 
agency of guano, deposits left by the pelicans on cer- 
tain islands on the coast of Peru. If the newly 
conquered district lay wdthin the Sierra or mountain 
regions, amongst other contrivances " andenes," or ter- 
races faced with stone, were formed on mountain-slopes 
to a very great elevation. The lowermost andene was 
sometimes a long slip containing hundreds of acres, 
whilst those above of about equal length were made 
narrow in proportion as they neared the hill -top, until 
the uppermost terrace had, in some cases, only just 
width enough for two or three rows of corn throughout 
its whole length. A given portion of the manual 
labor of the adult population being at the command of 
the Inca and his lieutenants, it was thus beneficially 
employed in converting mountain-slopes and hitherto 
barren lands into productive districts. So cheerfully 
was this labor-tax contributed, that there was more fre- 
quently a surplus than a want of hands ; no skill was 
spared in turning to account every available spot, how- 
ever small or however distant, water being sometimes 
conveyed in azequias many miles in extent for the sole 
purpose of irrigating a small lot of ground encom- 
passed by an irreclaimable waste. 



INDIANS OF PERU. 121 

When, in consequence of an increase of population, 
the third of the produce of the land destined for its use 
became insufficient for that purpose, a portion was 
taken from one or both of the other two thirds origi- 
nally set apart for the service of the Inca and the 
worship of the Sun, or church and state. Another 
remedial measure was also resorted to on such occa- 
sions, namely, to send a portion of the people to dis- 
tricts whose population had become diminished by the 
effects of wars and diseases, or which had been pre- 
viously cultivated. Ten thousand families were re- 
moved at one time to colonize the province of Chancas, 
which had lost much of its able-bodied population at 
the battle of Yuarpampa, and by the subsequent emi- 
gration of large numbers of the vanquished with their 
chief, Himchuala. 

The Sun's portion of the ground was first tilled: 
next that of the widow, the orphan, the aged, and the 
infirm ; next that of the people at large ; then that of 
the nobility ; and, lastly, that of the Incas and the royal 
family. The tilling of the latter portion, as well as of 
the first, was attended with much festivity. The rural 
workmen put on their best garb; chorusses chanted 
throughout the day the praises of the Incas, who acted 
on the maxim, that unless a people be first well pro- 
tected, they cannot effectually serve their king and 
country in peace or war. 

The earliest constructed agricultural terrace (Colle- 
amapta, on the side of the hill crowned by a fortress 
within the city of Cuzco,) was looked upon as almost 
sacred ground, and tilled only by Incarial hands. The 
princes delved in parties of seven or eight, or turned 
v.— 11 



122 INDIANS OF PERU. 

up the soil with a sort of hand-plough, whilst attendant 
princesses, with golden -toothed rakes, brought weeds 
to the surface for exposure to the atmosphere. These 
field operations were done to vocal music, and a chant 
called "Haylii" — tillage mastering the earth — re- 
sounded in cheerful strains, so that the whole affair 
was an exhilarating gala in honor of husbandry. 

It is impossible within the limits of this article to 
give a complete account of the system of government 
adopted by the Incas. What we have already said 
will suffice to show that it attempted to unite the 
utmost possible amount of power in the monarch with 
the greatest degree of happiness in the subject. This 
is not the place to discuss the question, to what extent 
the attempt was successful. But it may be interesting 
to see in what manner the Spaniards acted when they 
made their appearance and landed at Tumbez. 

By a singular fatality, when this occurred, the schism 
between Atahualpa and Huascar was in full operation. 
Huayna Capac, the Peruvian monarch, when crown 
prince, and before he was twenty years old, had been 
placed at the head of a force by his father Tupac 
Zupanqui, who died 1475, to invade and subjugate 
Quito. Having made a victorious progress, as heredi- 
tary prince, Huayna Capac completed the conquest of 
that extensive region in the early part of his reign, 
and added the heiress to the throne of Quito to the 
number of his wives. By her he had Atahualpa, who, 
of all Huayna Capac's sons, was the best-beloved and 
most frequently by the side of his father. Like most 
of the Incarial family, Atahualpa was, for a copper- 
skin, preeminently handsome. He was brave, active, 



INDIANS OF PERU. 123 

and warlike; his manners were elegant and his per- 
ception remarkably quick and clear. Huayna Capac, 
some years before his own death, had settled that this 
Atahualpa should inherit the maternal diadem, whilst 
the other, and by far the most extensive portion of the 
empire, was assigned to Huascar, an older son by Rava 
Oello, a sister-wife. For this division of the Incarial 
inheritance there was no precedent; and it was so 
directly in opposition to the national prejudices, the 
arrangement gave rise to forebodings and more dissat- 
isfaction than could be expected from a people cradled 
and trained in habits of passive obedience to monarchs 
of reputed divine origin. 

The two princes, nevertheless, affected on their 
accession a cheerful submission to the will of their 
departed parent, and, for some time after his decease, 
professed to entertain for each other an unbounded 
fraternal esteem. But in 1529, four years after Hu- 
ayna Capae's deaths the head cacique, or governor of 
Canar, the southernmost province of Quito, raising the 
standard of revolt against Atahualpa, sought and 
obtained the protection of Huascar. Then a fratri- 
cidal war ensued, and many severe battles were fought 
with varied success until the decisive one in 1532, m 
which Huascar was made a prisoner. Upon this 
Atahualpa, having confined his brother in the fortress 
of Xanxa, caused himself to be proclaimed sole Inca at 
Cuzco. It was at this juncture that Pizarro, who had 
visited the coast seven years before, reappeared in force, 
and established himself at Tumbez. 

The crafty invader soon became acquainted with the 
true state of the country, and found means to comma- 



124 



INDIANS OF PERU. 



nicate with the imprisoned Huascar. One of the first 
results of the discovery of this correspondence was 
the execution of the imprisoned Inca by order of 
Atahualpa, who himself, not long after, was put to 
death at Caxamarca by Pizarro. To conclude this 
chain of crimes, the conqueror himself, within a few 
years, was stabbed by an assassin. 

The Spaniards, reinforced by repeated accessions 
from Panama, soon spread over the country. The 
invaders, mounted on animals, until then unknown to 
the Indians, were regarded as supernatural beings, 
carrying engines of thunder, lightning, and death in 
their hands. The fratricidal war had engendered fac- 
tions, and, under the guidance of some of these, the 
common enemy was enabled to traverse immense 
tracts of country with ease. 

A vast field of plunder attracted other warlike ad- 
venturers, and the empire of the Incas was speedily 
overthrown. The conquerors, surfeited with spoil 
and power, began to quarrel among themselves, and 
to kill one another in the field of battle or on the 
scaffold ; so that, of all the first party that arrived, only 
four or five individuals died a natural death. Mean- 
while, how much soever the Spaniards might destroy 
each other, it was the policy and practice of the ruling 
powers to turn to account the inflamed passions of the 
aborigines. The Spaniards, accordingly, fomented 
mutual jealousies among them, countenanced or as- 
sisted the weakest party, and encouraged rivals to come 
to blows. 

Of these petty chiefs some were gained over to 
assist in subjugating others, for the bond of unity was 



INDIANS OF TERU. 125 

gone ,* and many of the caciques, having beheld the 
subversion of the venerated monarchy, aspired to, or 
re-assumed the independent rule which their ancestors 
had exercised previous to the amalgamation of their 
respective tribes or nations with the empire. But 
these did not long enjoy local sway ; for the Spaniards 
took especial care to sow the seeds of fresh dissensions, 
or to fan the embers of discord into flames, until they 
succeeded in despoiling both parties of authority, in 
sequestrating the property of most of the caciques, and 
in disposing of the salable part of it by auction for 
the benefit, as it was pretended, of the crown. This 
was the origin of the estates now known by the name 
of tierrus compuestas— composition lands. 

Such of the Spanish commanders as reduced others 
of the caciques, received the forfeited estate, or a part 
of it, as their share of booty. This sort of acquisition 
was called encomienda, or repartimento ; and the 
yanaconas, or serfs, were transferred with the land to 
the new owner. A great many actas, or original 
grants of these encomiendas, with the signatures of 
Pizarro, Valverde, Caravajal, and others of the Span- 
ish conquerors, still exist in the archives of Cuzco. 

When any of the caciques cooperated with the Span- 
iards in the conquest of a district, the possessions of 
the vanquished, or a part of them, became the guerdon 
of such traitorous alliance. The representatives of 
some of these assistant conquerors preserved, to the 
last hour of Spanish domination, a shadow of power 
over a few scattered townships; together with the 
style and title of " Most noble and faithful Vassals of 
his Catholic Majesty." They were also called " Ca- 
ciques of the Blood." 11* 



126 INDIANS OF PERU. 

Next to the caciques, in a descending scale, were 
the commanders of a hundred tens, or ten tens, and 
of tens ; but they were not eligible to the cacical office 
unless they possessed lands. They were, also, de- 
prived of the personal servitude of their yanaconas> 
who were forced to labor on the estates of Spaniards, 
or on those of a few caciques of the blood. 

It being impracticable for European adventurers, or 
settlers, to cultivate all the domains of the despoiled 
caciques, the unappropriated tracts of country were 
decreed to be waste lands. Part of them became com- 
mons, or altogether unproductive, and part was sold, 
and was termed composition de tierras depobladas. 
Aboriginal purchasers of this species of property, how- 
ever, had to submit to a much heavier taxation, called 
" Tasa de especia" than that imposed on European 
purchasers, or that imposed on the yanaconas, or serfs, 
who paid, by the hands of the landowner, a capitation- 
tax to the Spaniards. 

Besides the tasa de especia, a further tax was levied 
on the agricultural products of aboriginal holders; 
so that, although the caciques were nominally ex- 
empted from the alcabala, or excise, a yet higher duty 
was raised from them under fiscal contrivance. Thus 
commenced a system of impoverishing extortion, 
which, in conjunction with more undisguised plunder, 
has changed an opulent nation into a poor, thinly 
peopled country, and turned a thrifty race into a set 
of abject slaves. 

The " confession," or preamble to the last will and 
testament of Mancio Serra Lejesama, the longest sur- 
vivor of the Spanish conquerors, is an authentic docu- 



INDIANS OF PERU. 12? 

ment, which proves, beyond all question, the mora, 
and orderly state of society in Peru up to the time of 
the conquest, and shows, at the same time, how that 
happy state was changed, in less than half a century, 
by the invaders. A translated extract from this inter- 
esting document, which is extant in the archives of 
Cuzco, will be found to corroborate incidentally much 
that has been stated, on the authority of Garcilaso de 
la Vega, touching the wise laws of the Incas. 

Mancio Serra Lajesama was the individual to whom 
the celebrated golden sun, covering the head wall of 
the temple, was allotted; but he, being addicted to 
gambling, lost the golden prize in one night. He was, 
however, gifted with many redeeming qualities, and, 
on being chosen alcalde ordinario of Cuzco, resolved 
to abstain from play, and being, for this reason, re- 
chosen from year to year, he ever after adhered lo his 
resolution. 

The following is translated from his will, deposited 
in the archives of Cuzco, and extracted by the Friar 
Antonio Calancha, of the Augustine hermits, in the 
chronicles of his monastery, lib. i. cap. 15. fol. 98. 

" The veritable confession and declaration, in arti- 
culo mortis, made by the last survivor of the very first 
body of the conquerors of Peru, named Mancio Serra 
Lejesama, prefixed to his last will and testament, 
signed by the testator at Cuzco, on the 15th of Sep- 
tember, 1589, in the presence of Jeronimo Sanchez de 
Quesada, public notary. 

-M- ^t- ^t- -3A. JA. At- OA. 

•7?* -R* ^ *W- VC- -7? -7? 

" Imprimis. Before entering upon my testamentary 
dispositions, I solemnly declare that I have for many 



128 INDIANS OF PERU. 

years anxiously wished to make what I have to say 
known to the Catholic Majesty of Don Philip, our 
sovereign lord, seeing how orthodox, and Christian- 
like, and zealous in the service of our Lord God, he 
is ; for the sake of soothing my conscience, which has 
been sorely troubled by the recollections of the busy 
share I had in the discovery, conquest, and settlement 
of these realms ; when we dispossessed the Incas, who 
reigned over them as their lawful heritage, but which 
we transferred to the royal crown. 

" Be it known, then, to his Catholic Majesty, that 
the afore-mentioned Incas caused these realms to be 
so governed, that there was not in all the land either 
a thief, a criminal, an adulteress, or a woman of bad 
character ; 

" That such as led a wrong life were not tolerated ; 

" That forests, mines, commonage, hunting-grounds, 
timber, and all sorts of profitable things, were appor- 
tioned and regulated in such a way, that each indi- 
vidual knew and held his separate share, free from 
encroachments, trespassing or strife ; 

" That the business of wars, of which there were 
many, proved no hinderance to the orderly course of 
traffic, or tillage, or to any other branch of industry ; 

" That in every class, from the highest to the hum- 
blest, each individual knew and kept his own proper 
station, which was defined with the utmost precision ; 

" That the Incas were obeyed and venerated as a 
race preeminently qualified to govern ; 

" That corresponding fitness for office distinguished 
the appointed governors and captains ; 

" That as we found, under these circumstances, a 



INDIANS OF PERU. 129 

great strength, unity, and resistance to overcome, 
before we could subdue and devote these people to the 
service of our Lord God, and take from them their ter- 
ritory to annex it to the royal crown, it behoved us to 
deprive them of all power, command, and property, 
which we accomplished by force of arms ; 

" That, by the help of our Lord God, we were able 
to subjugate this kingdom, containing a multitudinous 
population, immense wealth, and that powerful aristoc- 
racy, whom we transformed into the subdued serfs 
they are now ; 

" And, considering myself to have been an accom- 
plice and partaker in the general guilt of bringing about 
these changes, I, to disburden my conscience, do hereby 
make this statement for the information of his majesty. 
We have, by our example, contaminated a highly 
moral people, unused to the perpetration of crimes 
and excesses, men as well as women. Before our 
arrival, the noble, possessing a hundred thousand dol- 
lars' worth of property beneath his roof, was accus- 
tomed, as well as everybody else, to place, on leaving 
his habitation, as a sign that nobody was at home, a 
brush, or rod across the door-way ; which token of 
absence was amply sufficient to prevent any person 
whatever from stepping over the threshold, or from 
taking anything from the premises. Accordingly, 
whenever these people saw us putting up doors, and 
locking them, they fancied that the strange precaution 
originated in our fears of them, and that we were 
guarding ourselves against being murdered ; for it 
never entered their imagination that it was to pre- 
vent one man from stealing the property of another, 
i 



330 



INDIANS OF PERU. 



Then, when they discovered that there were thieves 
amongst ourselves, as well as men who incited wives 
and daughters to go astray, they held us cheap. To 
such a pitch of dissoluteness, offensive to God, has our 
evil example, in every respect, carried the Indians, 
that they, who formerly did nothing wrong, now seldom 
do anything right. Hence, coercive remedies have 
become indispensable. The appliance of proper re- 
straints appertains to his majesty for the solace of his 
royal conscience, and I apprize him of the necessity, 
which is all that belongs to me to do. 

" Having performed this duty, I beseech God to for- 
give my sins ; for I have been moved to declare this 
much, because, of all the discoverers and first conquer- 
ors, I am the very last to die, since it is well known 
that not one of them, except myself, is left alive, 
either within or without this kingdom ; and, accord- 
ingly, i hereby do all that remains in my power to dis- 
burden my conscience. 5 ' 

That the tales of the vaunted riches of ancient Peru 
were by no means without a good foundation, a single 
proof will be given on the undeniable evidence of an 
official document, extant in the archives of Cuzco, 
which was copied in 1835, by order of Gen. Miller, 
who happened then to be in command at that place. 

It appears that in 1525, a year or two after Pizarro 
first entered Cuzco, he w r ent to Xanxa, and during his 
absence, forty of his influential companions in arms, 
whom he had left behind, commenced a general ran- 
sack for the gold and silver that still remained in pos- 
session of, or was concealed by, the aboriginal nobility, 
or wealthy classes in that place, under the pretext that 



INDIANS OF PERU. 131 

a conspiracy was on foot. In the course of this ope- 
ration, the Spaniards encountered an unwonted resist- 
ance, which gradually increased, until the Peruvians 
became, in turn, the assailants ; whereupon the ma- 
rauders shut themselves up, with the booty already 
collected, in the fortress within the city. Here they 
were sorely pressed by numbers, and on the point of 
succumbing, when, according to legendary records, 
they were saved by " Our Lady of Belim," who de- 
scended in a cloud ; and hence the popularity of her 
image down to the present day. The more probable 
version of the " miracle " is, that a detachment of 
Spaniards approached in a cloud of dust to the rescue 
of their beleaguered comrades. Be this as it may, 
the " forty" resumed and completed the general pil- 
lage ; but, to counteract the unfavorable impression 
which the absent Pizarro's report of the transaction 
might produce on the court of Madrid, the plunderers 
drew up and signed an acta, presenting Charles V. 
with 300,000 gold pesos, and 300,000 silver marks, 
worth all together, perhaps, two millions and a half of 
dollars in the money of that day — a douceur worthy 
of a crowned head. How much each of the " forty " 
received of the residue, or how much Pizarro's propi- 
tiatory share amounted to, is not known ; neither can 
it ever be fully explained how the widely spread 
wealth of a proverbially rich country was absorbed by 
an inventive tyranny, which neither slumbered nor re- 
laxed in the course of the ensuing three hundred 
years. 

Eeligion. — The Peruvian religion was an idolatry 
consisting chiefly in its external observance of the 



132 INDIANS OF PERU. 

worship of the Sun, as the visible agent of Pachaca- 
mac, the " soul or upholder of the universe." No 
sacrifice was ever offered, no worship paid to this un- 
known First Cause ; but he was, nevertheless, the 
object of internal adoration, and the name of Pacha- 
camac was never pronounced without being accom- 
panied by signs of profound veneration. The Sun 
engrossed the adoration of the Peruvians, though the 
Moon was revered as his wife ; and the Pleiades, with 
the other stars, acquired a kind of derivative honor, 
by being considered as her handmaidens and servants. 
The planet Venus was regarded as the page in wait- 
ing on the Sun ; thunder and lightning were his min- 
isters. The rainbow, believed to be an emanation 
from the sun, was adopted as the armorial bearing by 
the Incas, and, as well as each of the heavenly bodies 
we have mentioned, had chambers respectively allotted 
to them in the temples. 

The temples erected to the Sun were numerous, and 
their service was maintained with great pomp and 
ceremony. The sacrifices instituted in honor of the 
Sun, consisted chiefly of animals, fowls and corn, and 
they even burnt their finest cloths on the altar, by 
way of incense. They had also drink offerings made 
of maize, or Indian corn, steeped in water. Nor were 
those oblations the only acts of adoration in general 
use among them. When they first drank after their 
meals, they dipped the tip of their finger into the cup, 
and lifting up their eyes with great devotion, gave 
the Sun thanks for their liquor before they presumed 
to take a draught of it. 

Beside the worship of the Sun they paid some kind 



INDIANS OF PERU. 



133 



of veneration to the figures of several animals and 
vegetables that had a place in their temples. These 
were generally the images brought from the conquered 
nations, where the people worshipped all sorts of 
creatures, animate or inanimate, it being the custom 
when a province was subdued, to remove all their 
idols to the temple of the Sun at Cuzco. 




Temple of the Sun. 

Exclusive of the solemnities at every full moon, 
four grand festivals were celebrated annually. The 
first of those, called Raznic, was held in the month of 
June, immediately after the summer solstice, and was 
kept not only in honor of the Sun, but of their first 
v.— 12 



134 



INDIANS OF PERU. 



Inca, Manco Capac, and Mama Oello, his wife and 
sister, whom the Incas considered as their first parents, 
descended immediately from the Sun, and sent by him 
into the world to reform and polish mankind. At this 
festival all the viceroys, generals, governors and nobil- 
ity, were assembled at the capital city of Cuzco; and 
the emperor, or Inca, officiated in person as high priest, 
though on other occasions the sacerdotal function was 
discharged by the regular pontiff, who was, usually, 
either the uncle or brother of the Inca. 

The morning of the festival being come, the Inca, 
accompanied by his near relations, drawn up in order 
according to their seniority, went barefoot in proces- 
sion at break of day to the market-place, where they 
remained looking attentively towards the east in ex- 
pectation of the rising sun. The luminary no sooner 
appeared, than they fell prostrate on their faces in the 
most profound veneration, and universally acknowl- 
edged him to be their god and father. 

The vassal princes, and nobility that were not of the 
royal blood, assembled in another square, and performed 
the like ceremony. Out of a large flock of sheep 
the priests then chose a black lamb, which they offered 
in sacrifice, first turning its head towards the east. 
From the entrails of the victim, on this occasion, they 
drew prognostics relating to peace and war and other 
public events. 

That the Peruvians believed in the immortality of 
the soul, appears from the practice of the Incas, who 
constantly taught the people, that on leaving this world 
they should enter into a state of happiness provided 
for them by their god and father, the Sun. 



INDIANS OF PERU. 135 

It appears that the Peruvians had a marriage cere- 
mony, and the marriage obligation was faithfully 
observed. 

Notwithstanding the mild character of the Peruvian 
laws and religion, there was one custom that marked 
a barbarous state of society. On the death of the Inca, 
or any great chief, a number of his vassals, in one 
instance amounting to a thousand, were interred with 
him, so that he might be served with proper dignity 
in the other world. There were, also, deposited a 
portion of his wealth, and many precious and useful 
articles destined for his use. The opening of these 
hicacas, or tombs, has often proved a great prize to 
European adventurers ; and in one instance, there was 
found a treasure of gold amounting to no less than 
700,000 dollars. 

The Peruvians indicated their belief in the immor- 
tality of the soul, not only by their burials, but by cata- 
combs secured by enduring structures of stone. In the 
province of Chapapogas, are still to be found conical 
mausolea, which, as well on account of the solidity of the 
materials, as the inaccessible sites on which they are 
erected, display great skill in architecture and ambition 
for immortality. That they were extremely solicitous 
on this latter point, is attested by the multitude of 
mummies, which after a lapse of so many years are 
to be found in great numbers in catacombs throughout 
the country. It appears that they had the art of em- 
balming, and a specimen of their mummies, greatly 
resembling those of Egypt, may be seen in the Mu- 
seum at Salem. 

War. — The character of the Peruvians, however it 



136 INDIANS OF PERU. 

might have once been otherwise, was averse to war 
in the time of Pizarro. For this reason, their coun- 
try fell almost at once, before a handful of invaders. 
Yet, when roused by the death of the Incas, and the 
atrocities of the Spaniards, they defended Cuzco with 
vigor, and displayed a capacity for military tactics, 
superior to that of the Mexicans. They observed 
the advantages obtained by the Spaniards by their 
discipline, and endeavored to imitate it. They armed 
a body of their bravest warriors, with swords, spears, 
and bucklers taken from the enemy, and endeavored 
to marshal them in compact and regular order. Some 
appeared in the field with muskets which they had 
taken, and a few of them ventured to mount the cap- 
tured horses. In order to obstruct the march of cav- 
alry, they threw among them ropes, with stones at 
each end, which wound around the legs of the horses, 
and embarrassed their progress. 

Science and Arts. — Before the arrival of the Span- 
iards in America, the Peruvians were acquainted with 
some points of astronomy. They had observed the 
various motions of the planet Venus, and the different 
phases of the moon. The common people divided the 
year only by the seasons ; but the Incas who had dis- 
covered the annual revolution of the sun, marked out 
the summer and winter solstices by high towers, which 
they erected on the east and west of the city of Cuzco. 
When the sun came to rise immediately opposite to four 
of those towers on the east side of the city, and to set 
against those on the west, it was then the summer sol- 
stice ; and in like manner, when it rose and set against 
the other towers, it was the winter solstice. They had 



INDIANS OF PERU. 137 

also erected marble pillars in the great court before the 
temple of the Sun, by which they observed the equi- 
noxes. This observation was made under the equator, 
when the sun being directly vertical, the pillars cast no 
shade. At these times they crowned the pillars with 
garlands of flowers and odoriferous herbs, and holding 
festivals, offered to the adored luminary rich presents 
of gold, and precious stones. 

They distinguished the months by the moon, and the 
weeks were called quarters of the moon ; but the days 
of the week, they marked only by the ordinal numbers, 
as first, second, 6jc. They were astonished at the 
eclipses of the sun and moon. When the former hid 
his face, they concluded it was on account of their sins, 
imagining that this phenomenon portended famine, 
war, pestilence, or some other terrible calamity. In 
a similar state of the moon, they apprehended that she 
was sick, and when totally obscured, that she was dy- 
ing. At this alarming crisis, they sounded their 
trumpets, and endeavored by every kind of noise to 
arouse the lunar planet from her supposed lethargy ; 
teaching their children to cry out. and call upon Mama 
Quilla, or " Mother Moon," not to die and leave them 
to perish. 

They made no predictions from any of the stars, but 
considered dreams, and the entrails of beasts which 
they offered in sacrifice as instructive objects of divina- 
tion. When they saw the sun set, they imagined 
that he plunged into the ocean to appear next morning 
in the east. 

Among a people devoid of letters, the speculative 
essays of the understanding must have been very rude 
12* 



138 INDIANS OF PERU. 

and imperfect. They had, however, amentas, or phi- 
losophers, who delivered moral precepts, and likewise 
cultivated poetry. Comedies and tragedies composed 
by these bards, were acted on their festivals, before 
the king and the royal family, the performers being 
the great men of the court, and the principal officers 
of the army. The amentas also composed songs and 
ballads, but if we may judge from the rudeness of the 
music, with which they are said to have been accom- 
panied, they were far from being agreeable to the pol- 
ished ear. 

That the Peruvians were not unacquainted with 
the arts of painting and statuary, appears from the 
furniture and ornaments of their temples and palaces ; 
but in all the implements of mechanic arts, they were 
extremely deficient. Though many goldsmiths were 
constantly employed, they had never invented an 
anvil of any metal, but in its stead made use of a hard 
stone. They beat their plate with round pieces of 
copper, in place of hammers, neither had they any files, 
or graving tools. Instead of bellows for melting their 
metals, they used copper pipes of a yard long, almost 
of the form of a trumpet. Having no tongs to take 
their heated metal out of the fire, they made use of a 
stick, or copper bat. Their carpenters had no other 
tools than hatchets, made of copper, or flint ; nor had 
they learned the use of iron, though the country 
afforded mines of that metal. Instead of nails, they 
fastened their timbers with cords, or the tough twigs 
of trees. A thorn, or a small bone served them for a 
needle ; and instead of thread, they used the sinews 
of animals or the fibres of some plant. Their knives 
were made of flint or copper. 



INDIANS OF PERU. 139 

They had no idea of mortising their wood work 
together, nor could they give any great degree of sta- 
bility or perfection to their structures of timber. 
Their works in stone, display amazing perseverance, 
and astonishing power, for some of the masses found in 
their structures, are 30 feet long, 18 wide, and 6 thick. 
But the several pieces were not reduced to any uni- 
form length, shape, or size. They were joined as they 
came from the quarries, or fell from the mountains,— 
some being square, some triangular, &c. They were 
united by making a hollow in one, which was matched 
by a corresponding projection in the other. This opera- 
tion was performed with such nicety, that at the present 
day, in the ancient structures at Cuzco, it is impossible 
to insert a knife-blade into the joints. 

In the construction of roads they displayed great 
skill and perseverence. Two public works of this kind, 
extended from Cuzco to Quito, a distance of nearly 
1500 miles. One led through the interior, over moun- 
tains and valleys, and the other, across the plains along 
the coast. They were fifteen feet wide, and as no vehi- 
cles nor quadrupeds, other than the llama, were in use, 
they were in many parts slightly formed. But in the 
mountainous regions, elevations were levelled, and 
hollows filled up, and such was the firmness of the 
work, that portions remain entire to this day. At 
proper distances stone houses were erected for the ac- 
commodation of the Inca and his attendants, in his 
journeys through the country. 

The Peruvians were unacquainted with the arch, 
and therefore they had no bridges resembling those 
of the present day. But they made cables of withs 



140 INDIANS OF PERU. 

and the fibres of the aloe, and stretching six of these 
across a stream, they wove the whole compactly to- 
gether by ropes of twigs. The appearance of these 
bridges, which bend with their own weight, and wave 
with the wind, was frightful at first, but the Span- 
iards have found them the easiest mode of crossing the 
mountain torrents of Peru. 

The Peruvians had a more simple contrivance for 
passing smaller streams : a basket in which the trav- 
eller was placed, being suspended by a strong rope 
stretched across the river, it was pushed or drawn 
from one side to the other. - 

The precious metals were possessed in greater 
abundance by the Peruvians, than by any other people 
of America. They obtained gold by washing it from 
the sand, and silver by striking shafts into the bowels 
of the earth. These were not of great depth, but they 
displayed considerable ingenuity. They had discov- 
ered the art of smelting the silver ore, either by the 
simple application of fire, or by placing it in a small 
oven so constructed that the air performed the function 
of a bellows. Such was the abundance of silver, and 
the facility in working it, that many of the common 
utensils of life were of this metal. 

Enough has perhaps now been said of the works 
of the Peruvians to demonstrate the opulence and 
power of the Incas. Although of the genuine history 
of Peru under the Incarial sceptre much is wanting, 
records were systematically kept by means of quipos, 
or bunches of knotted twine of divers colors, and his- 
torical events were systematically taught to the higher 
classes. 



INDIANS OF PERU. 141 

This curious substitute for letters had probably been 
brought to all the perfection of which it was suscepti- 
ble, when it was suddenly lost, and the records of the 
nation perished with the nation itself on the arrival 
of the Spaniards. 

The word quiim or quipo, as it is usually written, 
signifies to knot, and in a figurative sense, to reckon : 
for numbers and quantities were thereby summed up. 
The quipos seemed also to preserve the memory of 
past occurrences, and to answer other purposes to 
which letters are applicable. A hank, or bunch of 
quipos, was composed of pendant strings. Each 
string was about twenty-five inches long, made of 
three or four threads twisted as tightly as whip-cord, 
and resembling in some respects the girdle worn by 
Franciscan friars. To the main strings were sus- 
pended shorter lengths of supernumerary threads, serv- 
ing to note exceptions to general rules, and to make a 
kind of marginal observations. Different colors repre- 
sented different things ; for instance, yellow stood for 
gold, white for silver, red for the soldiery, and so forth. 
Colorless things were enumerated in a fixed order, 
determined by their relative importance, as Indian 
corn, barley, peas, &c. Among warlike w T eapons, the 
lance claimed precedency, after which followed the 
bow and arrow, the club, &c. 

Accounts of the revenue receipts and the progress 
of population also w r ere kept by means of quipos, 
and delivered in every moon. In making out the an- 
nual census from the monthly ones, the knots in one 
string gave the number of males above seventy years 
of age, another string, those above sixty, and so on ; 



142 



INDIANS OF PERU. 



the females were reckoned distinctly; the numbers 
of widows and widowers, were shown by knots in the 
supernumerary threads. 

But the greatest difficulty was experienced in rep- 
resenting abstract ideas, which, however, was effected 
by ingenious combinations of knots. Histories were 
written in this manner, containing not only details of 
facts, but reflections, also. It is not, therefore, because 
annals had not been regularly kept, that the accounts 
we possess of ancient Peru are defective, but rather 
because the first conquerors and their immediate suc- 
cessors were for the most part regardless of every pur- 
suit but that of gold and glory. 

The inconsiderate zeal of the priests contributed also 
to the destruction of the annals of past events ; and a 
knowledge of the stringed alphabet was consequently 
lost, or only imperfectly retained in the pastoral reck- 
onings of the husbandman, whose herds or harvests 
were too insignificant to tempt rapacity, or were hidden 
amid the mountains, rocks, or on table-lands, too 
distant, or difficult of access to repay the labor of 
ordinary pillage. General Miller states that, in 1825 
being prefect of the department at Puno, he had 
means of ascertaining the fact, that the quipo was still 
understood and practised in that district by shepherds. 

Deprived of the assistance which a knowledge of 
the historical language would have afforded us, we 
are compelled to have recourse to traditions imper- 
fectly preserved, partly in consequence of the slight 
knowledge of the Guichuan language ever attained by 
the Spaniards. This will not be surprising when we 
consider that even Pizarro could not write. Numer- 



INDIANS OF PERU. 143 

cms public documents in the archives of Cuzco, are 
signed by his rubrica X, or mark, at the end of his 
name, which was written by his secretary. The sig- 
natures of many of his companions are affixed in the 
same manner to the same documents, whereas the hand- 
writing of Valverde and of Caravajal is particularly 
bold and plain. But the principal and best-informed 
of the Spanish conquerors met an early and violent 
death in the bloody strife which broke out from time to 
time amongst themselves. Very few, indeed, died a 
natural death, so that those who survived were incom- 
petent to give an accurate description of the interesting 
commonwealth they had laid in ruins. 

The historian Garcilaso de la Vega Inca may be 
considered an exception. He was the son of a noble 
Spaniard, who married the grand-niece of Huayna 
Capac, the eleventh Inca. Born in 1540, he was ed- 
ucated in Peru, among the relatives of his mother, 
from whom he learned most of the facts recorded in 
his Commentaries, and wrote in 1586. 

According to this historian, the empire of Peru was 
divided into four parts, called Tavantinsuyu, subdivi- 
ded into provinces, and governed on the principle of 
centralisation. The adult male population being reck- 
oned by tens, a decurion, called a chunca camayu, was 
appointed to watch over the remaining nine, together 
with their families and household dependants. The 
next superior officer had the surveillance of five tens, 
the next of ten tens, the next of fifty tens, and the 
next of a hundred tens, the highest number compre- 
hended in this decimal arrangement. 

The duty of the chunca camayu was to ascertain 



144 INDIANS OF PERU. 

the specific wants of the individuals placed under his 
supervision, to make those wants known to the proper 
authority, and, on obtaining the required supply, to 
distribute it. In this manner provision was made of 
corn to sow or to consume, of Alpaca wool, or cotton 
for clothing, of materials or manual assistance to repair 
or rebuild dwellings going to decay, or burned down, 
or levelled by earthquakes, and for every other requis- 
ite. He was also expected to denounce the crimes of 
those under his supervision, and rarely failed to do so, 
as he was himself made responsible. Justice was ad- 
ministered in this extraordinary empire with severity 
and despatch. In the reign of Huayna Capac, a district 
chief underwent the sentence of death for having 
caused the land of his kinsman, a cacique, to be tilled 
out of his turn, and before the land of a certain widow. 
In respect to the judicial system of the Peruvians 
generally, we can only state that it corresponded to the 
other institutions of the country. 

In training the people, the blended code of morality 
and legislation, was no less simple than beneficial to 
the greatest number. Three concise precepts formed 
the foundation of the educational system. "Ama sua, 
ama quella, ama tlulla." Thou shalt not steal, thou 
shalt not lie, thou shalt not be idle. These expres- 
sions were used as terms of greeting whenever the Pe- 
ruvians met or parted, and continued to be so until in 
1783 the Spaniards rigorously forbade the interchange 
of these colloquial expressions, and compelled the abor- 
igines to adopt the Catholic salutation of "Ave, Maria, 
purissima ! " Hail, Maria, most pure ! which was 
replied to by " Sin pecado concebida," conceived with- 



INDIANS OF PERU. 145 

out sm. An Indian never passed a white man on 
the highway without giving the orthodox salutation, 
and if "Ama sua"'' was given in reply, which they well 
understood, they appeared half alarmed, as if consider- 
ing themselves in danger of being entrapped into a 
transgression of the law. 

Agriculture. — In Peru, agriculture, the art of 
primary necessity in social life, was more exensive 
and carried on with greater skill than in any part of 
America. The Spaniards in their progress through 
the country, were so fully supplied with provisions of 
every kind, that in the relation of their adventures, we 
meet with few of those dismal scenes of distress occa- 
sioned by famine, in which the conquerors of Mexico 
were so often involved. The quantity of soil under 
cultivation, was not left to the direction of individuals, 
but regulated by public authority, in proportion to the 
exigencies of the community. Even the calamity of 
an unfruitful season, was but little felt, for the pro- 
duct of the lands consecrated to the Sun, as well as 
those set apart for the Incas, being deposited in the 
Tambos, or public store-houses, it remained there as a 
stated provision for times of scarcity. 

As the extent of cultivation was determined with 
such provident attention to the demands of the state, 
the invention and industry of the Peruvians were 
called forth to extraordinary exertions, by certain de- 
fects peculiar to their climate and soil. All the vast 
rivers that flow from the Andes, take their course east- 
ward to the Atlantic Ocean. Peru is watered only by 
some streams which rush down from the mountains 
like torrents. A great part of the low country is sandy 
J v.— 13 



146 INDIANS OF PERU". 

and barren, and never refreshed with rain. In order 
to render such an impoverished region fertile, the in- 
genuity of the Peruvians had recourse to various exper- 
iments by means of artificial canals, conducted with 
much patience and considerable art. From the tor- 
rents that poured across their country, they conveyed 
a regular supply of moisture to their fields. They 
enriched the soil by manuring it with the dung of 
sea-fowls, now called guano. 

The use of the plough, indeed, was not known. 
They turned up the earth with a kind of mattock, of 
hard wood. Nor was this labor devolved wholly 
upon the women. Both sexes joined in performing 
the necessary work. Even the Children of the 
Sun set an example of industry, by cultivating a field 
near Cuzco, with their own hands, and they dignified 
this subject by denominating it their triumph over 
the earth. 

Trade and Commerce. — It does not appear that 
trade and commerce were carried on to any great extent 
in Peru. Cuzco was the chief mart in the empire, 
and even here, it does not seem that there was any- 
thing like the busy activity seen on market days in 
Mexico. This may be explained by the manner in 
which property was held, and the mode of regulating 
the industry of the country, which prevented that com- 
petition in society, which is the result of independ- 
ence, and individual effort stimulated by the conscious- 
ness that each person may command the fruit of his 
industry. Though living in a community as one 
great family, may produce tranquillity, it can never 
carry society to its highest pitch of improvement. 



INDIANS OF PERU. 147 

Cities. — Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas, 
is said to have been built by Manco Capac, in the 
tenth or eleventh century of our era. In the year 
1534, when it was taken by Francis Pizarro, the 
Spaniards were astonished at the magnificent build- 
ings which it contained, especially the temple of the 
Sun. Of this temple, there remain at present, only 
some walls of singular construction, upon which 
stands the magnificent Spanish convent of Santo 
Domingo. 

The town is built at the foot of some hills in the 
middle of a wide valley, which has an undulating 
surface. This valley extends eastward to a mountain 
stream, the Quilla Camba, and in the lower part is 
well cultivated, the fields having the advantage of ir- 
rigation. 

The houses of modern Cuzco are built of stone, 
covered with red tiles. Many of them still retain their 
original walls — the great size of the stones used in 
their construction, the variety of their shapes, and the 
excellent workmanship which they display, give to the 
city an interesting air of antiquity. The cathedral, the 
convents of St. Augustin, and of La Merced, are very 
large buildings, inferior in architecture to few in the 
Old World. Many of the Spanish houses of Cuzco, 
are the original Peruvian dwellings, fitted up to suit 
their present masters. Whole streets of these re- 
modelled houses are to be seen, the walls of which are 
almost exactly as they were when the country was 
conquered. The house occupied by Valdivia, the 
companion of Pizarro, is still standing. 

Upon a lofty hill, a little north of the city, are the 



148 INDIANS OF PERU. 

ruins of a great fortress of Zarsahuman, many parts 
of the wall of which are even now in perfect preserva- 
tion. They consist of stones of extraordinary size, 
and of polygonal shapes, placed one upon another 
without cement, but fitted with such nicety as not to 
admit the insertion of a knife between them. This 
stupendous work w r as erected by the Incas for the 
protection of their capital. 

Dr. Robertson states, that Cuzco was the only city 
in the empire of Peru ; but the ruins remaining to this 
day assure us that the statement is incorrect, and that 
numerous other towns of great extent were scattered 
over the country. Of their history, however, we 
have no definite records. 

Antiquities. — We have already mentioned the 
remains of ancient structures at Cuzco and other 
parts of the country, as well as the huacas. or burial 
places of the dead. It may be remarked that almost 
every work of art was destroyed by the rapacity of 
the Spaniards in their thirst for gold. Pizarro and his 
associates were less elevated in their views and feel- 
ings than the conquerors of Mexico. The walls of 
Cuzco and the ponderous masses of the temple of the 
Sun, defied their rage, and subsist, though in ruins, to 
attest alike the energy and power of the Peruvians, 
and the gothic ravages of the Spaniards. But the 
royal gardens, once adorned with animals, birds, in- 
sects, trees, shrubs, flowers, corn, &c, in massive 
gold and silver, all grouped in natural order, were 
laid in ruins, and are at present cultivated with wheat 
and lucerne. Five noble fountains, within the pre- 
cincts of the temple, were destroyed by the Spaniards, 



INDIANS OF PERU. 149 

for the sake of the golden pipes which conducted the 
water in channels beneath the ground ! 

The remains of the works of the Peruvians still 
exist, in many parts of the country. Among these, 
the ruins of the ancient fortress of OUantaitambo, 
nine leagues north-east from Cuzco, are among the 
most astonishing relics of the art and grandeur of the 
ancient Peruvians. "Walls, of great height, and of 
curious masonry, rising as they recede one above 
another, with their respective terre-pleins, clothe the 
side of a steep and rugged mountain, the top of 
which is crowned by a tower that must have been 
impregnable. It seems to have contained spacious 
apartments, from which subterranean passages, now 
choked up with earth or rubbish, led to several out- 
works, erected at a considerable distance on the sides, 
and almost inaccessible summits of neighboring moun- 
tains, or precipices. Other subterranean works, con- 
ducted to extensive plains, intersected by the river 
Tambo, near the confluence of which with the Aqua 
Callente, are situated the principal buildings and 
fortifications. 

The enormous, irregularly shaped, yet highly 
polished masses of rock of which these structures are 
composed, have evidently been conveyed from a quar- 
ry a league distant, on the opposite side of the Aqua 
Callente. Two cf these stones which were mea- 
sured in 1835, were of the following dimensions, 
namely, the one thirteen feet eight inches in length, 
seven feet four inches in width, and five feet eight 
inches in thickness ; and the other, nineteen feet in 
length, four feet four inches in width, and four feet 
13* 



150 INDIANS OF PERU. 

in thickness. It should be added, that the latter lies 
midway between the quarry and Tambo, having, 
perhaps, been found too difficult of transport, whilst 
the other forms part of the tower. 

It almost surpasses belief, that weights so enormous 
could have been conveyed across the deep and rapid 
torrent of Aqua Callente, then lastly fixed with such 
nice precision, one upon another, without the aid of 
machinery — for there is no record of the ancient 
Peruvians having possessed engines suitable for the 
purpose. It is equally difficult to conjecture how 
the circular monuments of Celestani were constructed. 

There are numerous other fragments of Peruvian 
architecture remaining, of which it would be useless 
to attempt any enumeration. They are nearly all of 
a character similar to those already described ; being 
remarkable, chiefly for their dimensions, and the diffi- 
culties which must have been overcome by their 
builders. Worship and defence were the purposes 
to which they were usually devoted. 

The remains of the works of the Peruvians, which 
were constructed for the benefit of agriculture, are 
still to be found in many parts. The whole of the 
coast of Peru is a continued sandy desert, with here 
and there an oasis, or fertile valley. No rain ever 
visits these spots, and cultivation is, therefore, only 
effected by artificial means of irrigation. The an- 
cient inhabitants, as we have stated, had recourse, 
for this purpose, to numerous subterranean water- 
courses or conduits, which still remain in many 
places. In the valley of Nazca, they are about 
two feet in height, and one in breadth, lined with un- 



INDIANS OF PERU. 151 

cemented masonry and covered with slabs. Most of 
these conduits are choked up with sand, but some of 
them remain unobstructed, and supply sufficient water 
to impart great fertility to the valley, where the vine, 
which is extensively cultivated, often equals in girth 
an elm of ten years' growth. How far under ground 
aqueducts extend, or whence flow the head waters, is 
not known ; but the works of the Peruvians in this 
branch of rural economy were wonderful. 

Every new acquisition to territory, was followed by 
the construction of azequias, as these channels were 
called. Their importance may be judged from this 
fact, that wherever they have become obstructed, and 
this has occurred in many places, there stretches 
a parched level, where formerly were fertile fields and 
meadows. In many provinces of the interior, there 
are mountains, on the sides of which, artificial terra- 
ces, faced with rough stone, were constructed, resem- 
bling those which may be seen on some parts of the 
Rhone. These terraces rise one above another, to a 
great elevation, and once produced subsistence for a 
large population. They are now, for the most part, 
uncultivated, overrun with useless herbage, and with- 
out an inhabitant. 

At Cbilca, twelve leagues south of Lima, a village 
inhabited to this day exclusively by aborigines of un- 
mixed blood, there are quadrangular pits, containing 
each an acre, or half an acre of ground. 

Mr. Stevenson informs us that some of the tribes 
of wild Indians bury their dead in the house where 
they live, and then abandon it, building for themselves 
another, and he seems to think there is reason for 



152 INDIANS OF PERU. 

supposing, that this was an ancient custom of the 
country. He adds, that he dug up many of their 
bones which had been deposited under their houses, 
and they appeared to have been buried with whatever 
belonged to them at the time of their death. 

" I have found," he says, " women with their pots, 
pans, and jars of earthen ware, some of which are 
very curious. One kind is composed of two hollow 
spheres about three inches in diameter ; they are con- 
nected by a small tube placed in the centre and a 
hollow arched handle to hold it by, having a hole on 
the upper side ; if water be poured into this hole till 
the jar is about half full, and the jar be then inclined 
first to one side and then to the other, a whistling 
noise is produced. Sometimes the figure of a man 
stands on each jar, and if the water is poured down 
an opening in the head, a similar noise is produced. 
I saw one of these at the Carmelite nunnery, at Quito, 
having upon it two Indians carrying a corpse on their 
shoulders, laid on a hollow bier, resembling a butch- 
er's tray. When the jar was inclined backwards and 
forwards, a plaintive cry was heard, resembling that 
made by the Indians at a funeral. 

" The jars and other utensils, were made of good 
clay, well baked, which, with the ingenious construc- 
tion just alluded to, proves that the Indians were 
acquainted with the art of pottery. I have also found 
in these huacas long pieces of cotton cloth, similar to 
that which is made by the Indians at the present time, 
called tocuyo, many calabashes, quantities of Indian 
corn, quinua beans, and the leaves of plantains, feathers 
from the ostrich, from the plains of Buenos Ayres, and 



INDIANS OF PEKU. 153 

different dresses ; spades of palm-wood, jars filled 
with ckiche, which was quite sweet when discovered, 
and became sour after being exposed to the air for a 
short time. 

" I have found small dolls made of cotton, similar in 
dress to those worn at present by the females of Caja- 
tamba. It consists of a white petticoat and a piece of 
colored flannel, two corners of which are fastened on 
the left shoulder by a cactus thoin, the middle being 
passed under the right arm, girt round the waist 
with a colored fillet, and open to the left side down to 
the bottom, and a piece of flannel of another color, of 
about two feet square, was brought over the shoulders 
and fastened on the breast with two large pins of silver 
or gold called topas. The hair is divided into two 
side tresses, and these are fastened behind at the ex- 
tremity, with a colored fillet." 

The principal motive for digging the huacas, is to 
search for treasure. Eings and small cups of gold 
beat out very thin, and about as large as half of a 
hen's egg-shell, are found there ; and it is supposed 
that they were worn in the ears, for a small shank is 
attached to them, like the buttons worn by the Indian 
females at present. Slips of silver about two inches 
broad, and ten long, as thin as possible, are also fre- 
quently dug up. The small pieces of gold which were 
buried with them, were placed in their mouths. Owing 
to the nitrous quality of the sand, and to its almost 
perfect dryness, the bodies are quite entire, although 
many of them have been buried at least three centu- 
ries. The cloths are also in the same state of preser- 
vation, but both soon decay after being exposed to the 
sun and air. 



154 INDIANS OF PERU. 

Near the village of Supe there are the remains 
of a large Indian town, built on the side of a rock ; 
galleries being dug out of it, one above another, 
for the purpose of making room for small houses. 
Many remains of these are still visible ; and also, of 
small parapets of stone, raised before them, so that 
the hill has the appearance of a fortified place. Other 
vestiges of towns abound in all parts of the country. 

Present State of the Peruvian Indians. — Not- 
withstanding the cruelties and oppressions practised 
upon the Indians of Peru, they constitute a large 
portion of the present inhabitants of the country. They 
present nothing of that fierce aspect, and that untamed 
and ferocious character, which rendered the Caribs, the 
Brazilians, and the Indians of Canada, so terrible to 
European settlers. They have small features, little 
feet, w _ ell turned limbs, sleek, coarse, black hair, and 
scarcely any beard. Ulloa and Bouguer have re- 
presented them as sunk in apathy and insensibility ; 
as beings to whom good and evil fortune, honor or 
dishonor, life or death, appeared to be all alike. But, 
though a certain tameness of character may have 
been generated by their former despotism, it appears 
that the shy, reserved, and gloomy aspect which they 
present to Europeans has chiefly arisen from the ex- 
perience of oppression and accumulated wrongs ; and 
when it is often said that no expedient can rouse 
them from their gross ignorance, Mr. Stevenson tri- 
umphantly asks, what expedient has been employed 
for that purpose ? 

The Indians assuredly live in very miserable huts ; 
and they show a wonderful patience under the great- 



INDIANS OF PERU. 155 

est privations ; yet they do not neglect the means of 
improving their condition ; they are industrious cul- 
tivators, and often manufacture beautiful fabrics, 
from very simple materials. Several of them have 
distinguished themselves in the pulpit, and at the bar ; 
and, when completely at their ease, they are found to 
talk with even an excess of fluency. Chastity, espe- 
cially in the married state, is a national virtue ; but 
they are apt to indulge in too deep potations of chica, 
their favorite liquor. The} 7 have heen converted to 
something which they call Christianity ; that is, they 
celebrate the festivals of the Church by drinking enor- 
mous quantities of chica ; dancing through the streets 
to the sound of the pipe, with bells fastened to their 
legs, and cudgels, which they apply to any who 
attempt to obstruct their progress ; in these devout 
exercises, sometimes a whole week is consumed. 
They have, in a good measure, wiped off the charge 
of cowardice, by late achievements in the cause of 
Old Spain. Yet they retain the deepest and most 
mournful recollection of the Inca, and in all the 
remote districts annually celebrate his death by a sort 
of rude tragedy, accompanied by the most melting 
strains of national music. 

The Guichuan, or Inca language, with some varia- 
tion, continues to be spoken by about two thirds of 
the inhabitants of Peru proper. Into this language 
the New Testament was in process of translation, by 
a native of Cuzco, descended from one of the Incas, 
who was engaged to undertake this important service, 
for the British and Foreign Bible Society* We 
do not know whether it has been finished, Some 



156 INDIANS OF PERU. 

of the Indians have been sufficiently educated to 
shine in the legal profession at Cuzco, Lima and 
Quito, and many also have received holy orders. 

In the north of Peru, are Indians bearing a strong 
resemblance to the ancient Incas. They wear the 
hair cut straight across the forehead, and cropped 
close behind ; are tall, with good figures, and a com- 
plexion of tawny yellow ; hair lighter than the com- 
mon Indians, with a bright expression of countenance. 
They wear sashes of thin white bark, that fall both 
before and behind, and have their heads and arms or- 
namented with the long feathers of the scarlet macaw. 

The Indians who live in Lima, make fringes of 
gold and silver lace, epaulettes and embroidery ; some 
are tailors ; others attend the markets, but very few 
are servants or mechanics. Some are fishermen, 
subsisting on fish, maize, and the sugar cane, of 
which there are plantations. 

In 1825, Edmund Temple, a young Englishman, 
went out to Potosi as agent for a mining company 
formed in London. On his return, he published an 
account of his travels, and of his residence in Peru, 
and as he gives some descriptions of the Indians in 
the mining districts, we offer a few extracts : 

" The Peruvian Indians are a strong, healthy race, 
though not very tall, and generally laborious, for every 
kind of labor is performed by them. In Potosi, how- 
ever, the miners, all Indians, have acquired a charac- 
ter for habits of idleness, and a propensity to defraud 
their employers, which it must be admitted is not alto- 
gether without foundation, though I think the cause 
of the evils complained of may be traced to harsh 



INDIANS OF PERU. 157 

treatment, or to unwarrantable exactions of some sort, 
aggression being as frequent on one side as delin- 
quency on the other. 

" I know from experience, that, by proper manage- 
ment, their faults and the disadvantages arising from 
them may be guarded against, and in a great degree 
corrected. A worm, or, if it be thought more appli- 
cable, the adder, will turn when trod upon, and will 
then resent the injury ; so has it been with these 
Indians before now ; but, with kind usage, fair remu- 
neration for their services, and an impartial conduct 
towards them, they are perfectly tractable, and may 
become good, faithful, and willing servants. 

" During my residence at Potosi I have had occa- 
sion to employ many Indians as well miners as those 
of other trades and occupations ; there is no want of 
hands, as it has been generally supposed, and I can- 
not say that I have any cause of complaint against 
them ; they performed the work for which they were 
engaged to the best of their abilities, and at the com- 
pletion of it I paid them their hire. 

" Sunday, after the hour of early mass, is the cus- 
tomary time of paying the miners, and all persons 
employed in the ingenios ; this practice I did not ad- 
here to, having preferred settling all such matters, so 
far as I had control, on Saturday evening. 

" At the appointed hour they assembled in the 
court before my office, accompanied sometimes by 
their wives and children, and if I happened to be en- 
gaged in any business, (despatching the couriers, for 
instance, when, in the absence or illness of my com- 
panions, I have been employed many hours of the 
v.— 14 



158 INDIANS OF PERU. 

day c writing against time,') these people would re- 
main, without evincing the slightest impatience, and 
never approach to ask to be settled with till called by- 
name as they stood upon the list of the major-domo. 

" They always expressed their thanks when they 
received their wages, upon which subject we never 
had the most trifling misunderstanding, and only once 
upon another, namely, upon the subject of a pickaxe 
that had been stolen out of our ingenio. It was worth 
fifteen shillings at Potosi, and might have been worth 
five in England ; but the example, not the value, de- 
termined me upon giving a color of infinite importance 
to the case. 

" After the depredation had been made known to 
me, and when the workmen had assembled to receive 
their week's wages, two shillings per diem each man, 
I called them all into my office, merely for the sake 
of exhibiting myself in the highest possible degree of 
dignity, ( a clerk never looks so dignified as behind 
his own counter,) and whilst they stood like culprits 
in humility before me, with their hats off, I sat 
proudly elevated upon my judgment-seat, with my 
hat on, and in my hand a pen — a just emblem of my 
office, it is true, and at the same time calculated to 
convey terror to the mind of the thief, who knew that, 
if detected, I should instantly employ it in an applica- 
tion to the alcade for the infliction of fine and im- 
prisonment. 

" "When I had fixed the attention of the party, I 
commenced the dread inquisition. Alas ! many of 
their forefathers, for crimes of as little note, or even 
the bare suspicion of them, had been condemned by a 



INDIANS OF PERU. 159 

more horrible inquisition, and before judges less dis- 
posed to render justice and mercy than their present 
one, although it will appear that even he was obdu- 
rately relentless. I put the question, — 

" * Who stole my pickaxe ? ' — Dead silence, each 
looked at each, and all looked at me. 

" ' Who stole my pickaxe, I say ? " 

" ' Quien sabe ? ' (who knows ? ) said a low voice 
in the crowd. 

" ' Who knows ? ' said I ; " why, some of you know ; 
and I, too, must know, before I pay you one rial of 
your wages.' Then I proceeded to question each in- 
dividual by name. 

" ' Gregorio Medrano, did you steal the pickaxe ? " 

" No, Senor.' 

" ' Bernandino Marquete, did you steal the pick- 
axe ? ' 

" < No, Senor.' 

" * Casimiro Chambi, did you ? ' 

"' No, Senor.' 

And so on through the whole list with the same 
profitless result. 

The Indians, like the lower class of Irish, pre- 
serve inviolable secrecy respecting their own con- 
cerns ; an informer is looked upon as a wretch un- 
worthy to live among honest men, or if permitted to 
live, is loathed as a demon. Assured, therefore, that 
I should never succeed in detecting the exact thief, 
although we all well knew he was one of the party 
present, I proceeded to judgment upon all of them. 

" Know, then, hermanos mios, (dear brothers,) that 
my sentence is this ; that the major-domo do now, 



160 INDIANS OF PERU. 

immediately, and on the spot, put into his hat as many- 
grains of mats as there are of you here present ; that 
those grains shall be all white save one, which shall 
be black ; and he who draws that black grain shall 
pay for a new pickaxe.' 

" Here consternation became general and evident, 
but, from the natural darkness of the Indian complex- 
ion, it was impossible to discover the delinquent from 
any change produced on his countenance by the in- 
ward workings of his mind. 

" ' Now, senor major-domo, shake your hat well — 
shake it ! I say, that no suspicion of partiality may be 
entertained. Let each man in succession put his hand 
in and take one grain of mais, then withdraw it, 
taking care to keep his hand shut, and not to open it 
until ordered so to do.' 

" This being done, they all stood before me with 
their right arms stretched out at full length, and the 
hand firmly closed. 

" ' Now for the detection of the thief ! Open ! Que 
es eso ? (What is all this ?) Major-domo ! what is the 
reason of this ? ' said I ; for, to my astonishment, every 
hand was empty. 

" ' I really don't know, sir ; they must have drawn 
the grains and swallowed them, for not a single one 
remains in my hat ! ' said the major-domo, turning his 
hat-mouth downwards to prove that nothing was 
there. 

" Amazement was at its height ; it was evidently a 
case of bruzeria, — witchcraft. Inaquinte Sambrano 
observed that it was the miraculous interference of 
Saint Dimas, — the patron saint of robbers, — to prove 



INDIANS OF PERU. 161 

that there was no thief among them. But, notwith- 
standing my surprise and confusion, I determined that 
the saint should not keep my pickaxe without paying 
for it. 

"I desired the major-domo to give me his hat; 
upon examining it the witchcraft was explained. In 
obeying my orders , ' to shake the hat well,' every 
grain of maize had absconded through a rent in the 
crown., and the floor being covered with thick straw 
matting, they fell upon it unheard. 

" We therefore proceeded with more caution to a 
second drawing, when the black bean appeared, on 
the show of hands, in that of Basil Calamayo, from 
whose wages I directed the major-domo to purchase 
the best pickaxe that could be had in Potosi. From 
that hour I never heard of any pilfering. " 

We do not record this procedure of Mr. Temple as 
an example of justice. In taking the worth of the 
pickaxe in the manner he did, from Basil Calamayo, 
he probably punished an innocent person, and excited 
the unreasonable fears of the ignorant Indians. Still 
he seems disposed to tell the truth, and bears testi- 
mony to their good as well as bad qualities. The 
following passage speaks volumes in their favor. Mr. 
Temple might well ask whether, in civilized England, 
he would have found as elevated examples. 

" When I have arrived weary and faint at a Peru- 
vian hut, with what pure feelings of gratitude have 
I made my acknowledgments to the family, who, 
from sheer benevolence, have ceded to me the only 
little store they possessed. Often have I alighted 
from my horse at an unseasonable hour and asked for 
k 14* 



162 INDIANS OF PERU. 

milk, offering dollars. " The answer invariably was, 
' No hai ! no hai, Serior ! ■ They would not take the 
trouble of getting it for money. 

" But when I said, ' I am very unwell, my brother; 
do me the favor and God will repay you,' my feeble 
voice, pale cheek, and sunken eye, bearing testimony 
to what I said, — the sire of the family, or the matron, 
would mutter something in Quichua, the language 
of the country, when instantly an earthen ware pipkin 
would be seized by one of the younger members, who 
would glide away in pursuit of the flock, and return- 
ing quite breathless from the haste he used, would 
present me with the milk, without a question as to the 
payment. 

" And this is savage hospitality ! Could I expect 
more among the most polished people of the earth ? 
Should I always have obtained as much ? " 

In another place Mr. Temple observes, " I felt no 
apprehension of losing a single article of my bag- 
gage ; it had been entrusted to the Indians, and in 
their charge required neither guards, nor swords, nor 
pistols, to protect it, or to insure its safe delivery. 

" On the whole, I believe I am not singular in the 
opinion that the worst qualities of the Peruvian Indi- 
ans have been imported, and that their virtues are 
their own. They possess a peaceable, unoffending 
spirit, free from even an accusation of those great 
moral crimes which disgrace civilized nations. 

" The dress of the men, excepting the hat, which is 
precisely the shape of Don Quixote's helmet without 
the niche in it, reminded me of that of the peasantry 
of Connaught. They wear coarse brown frieze cloth 



INDIANS OF PERU. 163 

breeches, with the waistband very low, and always 
open at the knees, the buttons being for ornament, not 
for use. Shirts are seldom worn ; the legs are bare, 
with the exception of pieces of hide under the soles 
of the feet, tied sandal-fashion round the instep and 
toes. 

" The dress of the female Indians consists of a pet- 
ticoat, worn much shorter by the unmarried than by 
those that are married, and a scarf of sundry colors 
round the shoulders, which is pinned on one side of 
the chest with a topa, a large silver pin ; but some- 
times they use a spoon, the handle of which being 
pointed serves as a pin. 

" Cholas, those descended from Spanish and Indian 
parents, are very fond of dress. I have seen them 
with topas of gold, set with pearls and precious stones 
of considerable value." 




164 



THE AKAUCANIANS. 




Arauco, or Araucama, occupies the western slope* 
of the Andes, in the southern part of Chili. Though 
an elevated district, the soil is fertile, and the climate 
delightful. It is indeed a beautiful region, and suited 
to the interesting people who inhabit it. 

When Chili was invaded by Almagro, the compan- 
ion of Pizarro, in 1535, he found the country inhabited 
by numerous tribes possessing a warlike character, 



THE ARAUCANIANS. 165 

md in this respect, being strongly contrasted with the 
Peruvians. Disgusted with the hardships he encoun- 
tered, he returned to Peru. Valdivia succeeded him, 
and after a severe contest of ten years, subdued the 
greater part of the country, and founded several cities. 
But he had yet to contend with the Araucanians, a 
brave nation of mountaineers, who had made some 
advances in civilization, and who cherished their 
liberty as above every other possession. Valdivia 
marched against them, but he was defeated, taken 
prisoner, and put to death. The exploits of the Arau- 
canian leaders, ^Caupolican and Lautaro, have fur- 
nished an interesting theme for the muse of the Span- 
ish poet Ercilla. In spite of the efforts of succeeding 
generals, the Araucanians baffled every attempt to 
subdue them, and remain to this day in a state of in- 
dependence, possessing the soil which was the home 
of their fathers. They have entered into a treaty 
with the republican government of Chili and even 
agreed to a kind of union. 

The Araucanians have introduced some European 
customs, though they are not greatly changed since 
the days of Valdivia. They have now horses and 
horned cattle, and have adopted the rude agriculture 
of the Spaniards. They have added the musket to 
their original arms of the bow, arrow and club, but 
their religious belief, and most of their customs are 
the same as those of former times. 

Their complexion is of a reddish brown, though 

* For the history of the Araucanians, and the Life of Cau- 
polican, see " History of American Indians," and " Lives of 
Famous Indians .'' 



166 THE ARAUCANIANS. 

considerably lighter than that of other Indians. They 
have round eyes, full of expression, flat noses, hand- 
some mouths, and remarkably even, white teeth. 
The hair is thick and black, and, growing to a great 
length, is twined in tresses around their heads. The 
men exterminate the beard with great care. They 
are seldom grey before 60 or 70 years, and baldness 
or wrinkles are rare at so early a period. They often 
live to the age of a hundred, retaining their sight and 
teeth unimpaired. They possess the elements of a 
high moral character ; generous and faithful, intrepid 
and courteous, enthusiastic and patient, they seem 
formed to challenge the admiration of more civilized 
nations. 

Dress. — The clothing of the Araucanians is chiefly 
of wool. The men wear a shirt, vest, and pair of 
breeches, usually of a greenish blue. They have also 
a cloak, which they call poncho, consisting of a square 
piece of cloth of ample length, with a hole in the mid- 
dle for the head. This garment is often made of fine 
materials, and some of them are so elegant as to sell 
for 150 dollars. A broad sash for the waist is common. 
The head is covered with a cap, or bandage in the 
form of an ancient diadem. The common people go 
barefoot. Persons of condition wear sandals and 
woollen boots of many colors. 

The dress of the women is a tunic of turquoise 
color, a girdle, and a short cloak, fastened in front, as 
well as upon the shoulders with brooches and buckles. 
This is without sleeves. Their dress is never varied, 
except as to diversities of color and finery. They 
divide their hair in several tresses which float upon 



THE ARAUCANIANS. 



167 



their shoulders. They use a profusion of false emer- 
alds, necklaces and bracelets of glass, and ear-rings of 
square pieces of silver. Each ringer is also often 
decorated with a silver rinsf, 




Dwellings. — The Araucanians live in scattered 
villages, in houses large or small, according to the 
wants of the family. They are usually of mud, but 
sometimes wholly or in part of stone or wood. Noth- 
ing beyond ordinary comfort is sought, either in the 
construction or furniture of the house. Cleanliness is a 
prevailing virtue. Bathing is common with all classes. 
The women sweep the houses and courts several times 
a day and are scrupulous to wash their utensils as 
soon as used. They are very neat in their persons, — 
combing their heads twice a day, and every week 
washing them with soap made from the bark of the 
quillai. A spot of dirt is not to be seen on the dress 
of an Araucanian woman. 



168 THE ARAIJCANIANS. 

Food and Drink. — The principal subsistence of 
this simple people, consists of several kinds of grain 
and pulse which they prepare in many ways. Maize 
and potatoes are their chief articles of food. The lat- 
ter are among the finest in the world, and no less than 
thirty different kinds are cultivated. They eat little 
flesh, and less fish. They live in families, — the mas- 
ter of the house presiding at the table. Their com- 
mon drinks are beer and cider. 

They have feasts and entertainments upon occasions 
of interest, as funerals, marriages, &c. No pains 
are then spared to promote festivity. Three or four 
hundred people are often together at such times, and 
the entertainment is kept up for two or three days. 
These revels are frequent throughout the year : the 
men of property being ambitious to signalize their 
hospitality in this way. 

Amusements. — Music, dancing and play constitute 
their chief sports. They have the same instruments of 
music, whether for peace or war. These are exceed- 
ingly harsh, and combined with the singing, produce 
an effect not unlike that of, filing a saw. In their 
dances they are seen trotting through the rooms with 
uncouth movements, adapted to their songs. Among 
their favorite games is that of comican, which greatly 
resembles chess. The quechu has an affinity to back- 
gammon. The youth exercise themselves in running, 
wrestling and other gymnastics, all of which are imi- 
tations of Avar. 

Religion. — The Araucanians acknowledge a su- 
preme being whom they call Pillau, meaning the 
Supreme Essence. They give him the titles of 



THE ARAUCANIANS. 169 

Spirit of Heaven, the Great Being, the Thunderer, the 
Creator, the Omnipotent, the Eternal, the Infinite. 
His universal government is a prototype of their civil 
policy ; he is considered the great toqui of the invisi- 
ble world, and as such he has his ulmenes, or assist- 
ants, to whom he commits subordinate affairs. These 
ulmenes constitute the inferior deities, which are nu- 
merous, descending even to the grade of household 
gods and familiar spirits. The people are supersti- 
tious, believe in divination, and pay great attention to 
omens. The Araucanian warrior, who fearlessly 
faces death in a battle, trembles at an unseasonable 
meeting with an owl. Many of them believe in ap- 
paritions, phantoms, and hobgoblins ; but their wise 
men laugh at these follies. 

They have no temples or idols, and offer no exte- 
rior worship to their gods, though, in cases of calami- 
ty, they sacrifice animals and burn tobacco, as a 
grateful incense. They believe in the immortality 
of the soul, and that after death, they all go to a 
country toward the sea, which is divided into two 
parts ; one of which, the abode of the good, is filled 
with everything that can delight the heart; the other, 
the habitation of the wicked, is a desolate region, 
where disease, want, and poverty prevail. 

Their funeral are occasions of great ceremony. 
The dead body is laid out in its best dress, and during 
the night which follows its decease, the relatives, with 
those who come to console them, pass around it weep- 
ing, eating and drinking. After two or three days 
the body is borne by the principal relations to the 
burial place. It is there laid on the ground, and 
v.— 15 



170 THE ARAUCANIANS. 

being supplied with implements and provisions, it 
is covered with earth and stones, arranged in a py- 
ramidal form. The attendants then take leave with 
many tears, wishing the departed a prosperous jour- 
ney. 

Medicine. — The medical practice of the Arauca- 
nians is blended with superstition. They have some 
physicians, who are skilful herbalists ; there are oth- 
ers whose process of cure is a mere incantation. This 
is performed at night, in the sick room, lighted with 
torches, and consists of various mummeries. 

Government, &c. — The country of Arauco is di- 
vided into four districts, each being governed by a 
hereditary ruler, called toqui. These are confederat- 
ed together, for their mutual benefit, both in peace 
and war. Particular portions of these districts are 
governed by inferior chiefs, also hereditary, who bear 
the name of ulmenes. When war is declared, the 
toquis elect a general among themselves, or the peo- 
ple at large, and he assumes the command. Their 
arms are spears, shields, bows, arrows, clubs, and of 
late years, the musket. When they set forth on an 
expedition, each man merely carries a small bag of 
parched meal, trusting that, ere long, they will be 
comfortably quartered on the territory of the enemy. 
Their leaders have shown great military talent, as 
well in the planning as the conducting of their cam- 
paigns ; and the common soldiers display a courage 
and daring which no nation has ever surpassed. 
Never have the Araucanians been known to sue for 
peace, and the terms of accommodation between them 
and the Spaniards have always been dictated by the 
mountaineers. 



THE ARAUCANIANS. 



171 



The chief towns of the country are Arauco, Tarbul 
and Tucapel. These, however, are mere villages, 
nerched on the top of almost inaccessible rocks. The 




Araucanian Warrior. 

abode of the principal cacique in one of these towns 
was, a few years since, a thatched house, with mud 
walls, sixty feet long, and twenty broad. In the rear, 
throughout the whole extent, was a series of stalls, 
used for sleeping apartments. 

Polygamy prevails among the chiefs and wealthy 
men. The hard labor is generally performed by 
the women, who plough, sow, and reap. They also 



172 THE ARAUCANIANS. 

weave the ponchos, which are the chief manufacture 
of the country. Marriage is always celebrated with a 
show of violence, for, even after her consent is 
obtained, the bridegroom conceals himself on the road, 
and as the bride approaches, he seizes her and carries 
her off. This pantomime is carried through with 
great dramatic effect on both sides. The bridegroom 
then takes the bride to his house, where friends are 
collected and an entertainment suitable to the joyous 
occasion, is provided. 

Oratory, &c. — The Araucanians have no books, and 
no other literature than what is found in their tradi- 
tions. Oratory, however, is held in high estimation, 
and cultivated with success. The son of a chief 
who has not this gift is thought to lack an endowment 
proper to his rank. Some of them understand Span- 
ish, but they are careful to avoid the corruption of 
their own language by the intermixture of foreign 
'words. Their taste in composition is exceedingly 
critical, and the common people will often stop a pub- 
lic speaker, to correct him in his language. They 
have their poets who are called Quempin, lords of 
speech. These are guided only by the impulse of 
the imagination. Their effusions are chiefly allegori- 
cal, and are generally devoted to the exploits of their 
heroes. They are full of lively images and startling 
metaphors, and appear to possess the art of moving the 
sensibilities of those to w r hom they are addressed. 
They use blank verse of eight or eleven syllables — 
measures which are always pleasing to the ear. 
Rhymes are sometimes introduced. 

The Araucanians are a proud race ; believing them- 



THE ARATJCANIANS. 173 

selves the noblest of their kind, they despise the rest 
of the world. Their kindness is easily won ; but their 
anger is also speedily roused. Contempt they never 
forgive. To each other they are full of kindness, and 
their complaisance even runs to excess. Not a beg- 
gar, or indigent person, is to be found in their whole 
territory — all are decently clad, and the natural hos- 
pitality of the people banishes want from the land. A 
stranger is welcome among them, and a traveller may 
go from one end of the country to another, without 
expense. 




15^ 



]74 



THE ABIPONES 




The Abiponians are one of the most remarkable of 
the original tribes of America. They formerly occu* 
pied the province of Chaco, a large tract in the centre 
of Paraguay. Being disturbed by a branch of their 
people, the Mokoby tribe, they went eastward in 1770, 
and founded the colony of Las Garzas, under the 
protection of the Spaniards. Here they have retained 
nearly their original character, in spite of the efforts 
of the Catholic missionaries to convert them. 

According to the account of the Jesuit missionary, 
DobrizhofFer, the Abipones are an interesting and ex- 
traordinary people. They are a well made, tall and 
handsome race, with faces of the European form, and 



THE ABIPONES. 175 

a skin quite light colored. Their bodies are robust, 
and capable of enduring the greatest extremes of 
hunger and fatigue ; their vigor endures even till old 
age, and a man of a hundred years may be often 
found who can leap on his horse, and continue riding 
for several hours. The teeth and sight continue un- 
impaired, and if a person dies at eighty, he is thought 
to have come to an untimely end. 

The Abipones have strict notions in regard to dress, 
deeming it unseemly to go naked. They use a 
square piece of linen thrown over the shoulders, con- 
fining it to the body, and above this they wear a 
mantle, also of linen, tied under the chin. The men 
have the beard and eyebrows plucked out by old wo- 
men, with a pair of horn tweezers. They shave their 
heads, leaving a circle of hair. Both sexes are 
tattooed with ineffaceable black dye. The face, arms, 
and other parts of the body are decorated with various 
figures. This process, which consists of pricking the 
liquid into the flesh by means of thorns, is exceeding- 
ly painful, and performed by old women. The girls, 
at a marriageable age, are obliged to submit to this 
torture, and if they shrink they are jeered into com- 
pliance. The greater the number of figures a wo- 
man displays, the higher is her rank in the scale of 
fashion. The men wear ear-rings, and the women 
adorn their necks with strings of vanilla seeds, and 
beads of gum. 

The Abipones make considerable use of the flesh 
of animals taken in the chase. They are said to be 
fond of tiger's flesh, and to drink melted fat from the 
body of that animal. They reject mutton, fish, eggs 



176 THE ABIPONES. 

and other things of the kind, as producing sloth of 
body, and cowardice of soul. They make bread of 
the manioc or cassava, and take their meat almost 
raw. 

These people live in houses made of poles thatched 
with mats. They frequently remove from place to 
place, usually travelling on horseback. The wife's 
horse is generally loaded with her husband's bow 
and quiver, as well as all the pots, gourds, jugs, 
shells, and other furniture, together with the infant, if 
there be one. In crossing rivers, they frequently take 
hold of the tail of the horse and are thus drawn over. 
They sometimes make a boat of a bull's hide, for the 
purpose of transporting their baggage. 

They are unacquainted with spades, ploughs, and 
axes. The women spin threads of bark, which are 
formed into cords, nets, and coarse cloths. They use 
thorns for pins and needles. Of the caraquata they 
obtain soap and sugar. The women, also, mould 
pots and jugs, of earth, make combs of bristles, and 
harnesses, horse cloths, carpets, and wrappers of the 
skins of the jaguar. Their religious notions are ob- 
scure ; they believe in an evil spirit, and call the con- 
stellation of the Pleiades their grandfather. They 
have many superstitions, and jugglery is largely 
practised among them. 

In war the Abipones are in the highest degree 
savage and ferocious. They are among the most 
dexterous horsemen in the world, seeming to rival the 
Camanchees in their equestrian feats. Upon a march 
they proceed with amazing rapidity, crossing rivers, 
and deserts, and astonishing their enemies by bursting 



THE ABIPONES. 177 

suddenly upon them.^ On going to battle, they 
often strip themselves naked, as if to express con- 
tempt of the weapons of the enemy. Their govern 
ment consists in dividing the people into several 
hordes, each of which is headed by a chief, who ex- 
ercises magisterial authority. The number of the 
tribe is now greatly reduced, there being scarcely 
more than 5000 of the pure blood. 

# For a further account of these people, see " Famous In- 
dians," article, Ychoalai. 




178 



VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 




Head of a Patagonian. 

Patagonia, the southern portion of South Ame- 
rica, is still in possession of the original tribes, who 
remain to this day a race of savages. They are 
expert horsemen, pursuing and catching the rhea, or 
American ostrich, as well as wild cattle, with the 
lasso. They are of large stature, and for a long pe- 



VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 179 

riod were deemed a race of giants. They dwell in 
miserable huts, go half naked, and feed on flesh and 
vegetables, scarcely cooked. They believe in an in- 
visible god whom they call Iochu, the Unseen. They 
believe the sick possessed of demons, and the physi- 
cians beat drums about them, to exorcise the evil 
spirits. They often bury the dying before the breath 
of life has departed. 

The Fuegians, who dwell around the chill and stor- 
my coasts of Terra del Fuego, are a miserable and 
squalid race, living chiefly on fish, They are of 
a low grade of intellect, and seem debased both in 
body and mind. Though their atmosphere is filled 
with sleety rain a great part of the year, they go half 
naked, and their habitations are frail tenements of 
sticks, bark and earth. 

The Gauchos, who inhabit the wild surface of the 
Pampas of La Plata, and appropriate to themselves the 
countless herds that roam over them, are a singular 
race. They are Europeans, who have lived so long 
as hunters, apart from civilized society, that they have 
became almost mere savages. They are a great part 
of the time on horseback, and are so little accustomed 
to the use of their feet that they can hardly walk. 
Their vigor in the chase is almost supernatural. The 
houses are cottages of mud, and infested with vermin. 
Many of them are robbers, and woe to the traveller 
who falls in their way. 

The Indians of the Pampas are still somewhat nu- 
merous, and are even more savage than Gauchos. The 
two races maintain desperate hostilities with each 
other. The savages are finely mounted, and pos- 



180 



VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 



sess the vigor of character belonging to their Arauco 
blood, of which they are descended. They delight 
in midnight surprises, butchering the men and carry- 
ing off the girls for wives, who, in this capacity, are 
kindly treated. 

The Indians of Brazil are in a much more uncivil- 
ized state than those of the former Spanish territories. 
They have never been incorporated with the Eu- 
ropean population, but have usually retired, before the 
march of civilization, into the depths of the forests. 
The missionaries have done something for a few of the 
tribes, and these have adopted the fashion of covering 
the body. But none of them cultivate the soil, or 




have tame animals. They subsist solely upon the 
spontaneous products of nature ; they dig up roots, and 
use the arrow with amazing dexterity. They eat 
monkeys, and it is said, human flesh. 



VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 181 

As among other savages, some most uncouth cus- 
toms prevail. The Botocudos, who inhabit the back 
settlements of Porto Seguro, have a favorite mode of 
ornamenting themselves by what is called the botogue. 
This consists of large pieces of wood pendent from 
the ears and the under lip, to which they are fastened 
by holes made for that purpose. The result is that 
the ears are stretched till they hang down, like wings, 
sometimes to the shoulders, while the lip is made to 
project, and half the lower teeth are protruded in the 
processes of eating and speaking. They sometimes 
also paint themselves frightfully, the body black and 
the face red, probably to strike terror into the hearts 
of their enemies. The Puries, Pataches, Macha- 
caries, with sundry other tribes, of name and aspect 
equally uncouth, have the same general character 
with sundry fantastic peculiarities belonging to each. 

Along the banks of the Orinoco, there are still va- 
rious tribes, which seem to have made small advances 
in civilization. Some of these believe that their fa- 
thers grew upon a tree ; and one of the rudest tribes 
among them, the Othomacas, suppose themselves de- 
scended from a pile of stones upon the top of a huge 
rock. At death they suppose they all return to stone, 
as they came from it. It is one of their odd customs 
to give, for a first marriage, a young girl to an old 
man, and a youth to an old woman ; for they say if 
the young people came together there could be no 
good household management. Polygamy is not prac- 
tised among them. 

Their color is of a yellowish cast, inclining to cop- 
per, and their long coarse hair grows low down on 
v.— 16 



182 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 

their foreheads ; their noses are said to be sharp at 
the point, as of a person worn out by illness. They 
have large mouths and thick . lips, with eyes black, 
melancholy and inexpressive; their general air is 
heavy and sad. 

Mr. Semple, a late traveller, gives a description of 
some parties of Indians he saw going to seek for work 
in the coffee plantations, where they were employed 
in picking the berries ; the men w^ere strong, though 
not so well limbed as the Indians of North Ameri- 
ca. Some of them, he observes, " while they rested 
their burthens, amused themselves by blowing into 
a species of flute, one of the rudest ever sounded by 
the human breath. The sound was like that of the 
wind sighing in the forest or among rocks— some- 
times rising almost to a scream, and then dying away 
almost to a whisper. This alternate rise and fall 
constituted the whole of the music, which, except- 
ing the drum of the negroes, consisting of a solid 
piece of wood beat by two sticks, was the rudest I 
ever heard. It seemed, however, to afford infinite sa- 
tisfaction to those for whose ears it was designed ; 
they listened in silence, and when the performers 
reached the height of screaming, all eyes were turned 
towards us, to see if we were not yet touched by such 
masterpieces of melody." 

These people travel over mountains and valleys 
more than a hundred miles, to Caraccas, with poultry, 
in huge basket cages, made of canes and rushes, some 
of them six feet high. They have a conical top, di- 
vided into five or six stages, full of fowls, monkeys 
and parrots. They carry them on their backs, sup- 



VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 183 

ported by a broad strap, which goes over the forehead. 
The boys begin with small cages, gradually increas- 
ing their size and weight, until they are able to carry 
the largest. When arrived at this point there is great 
exultation among them. 

The nations on the banks of the Maranon and Ori~ 
7ioco, are acquainted with a poison called Wourali, in 
which they dip their arrows employed in hunting, and 
if they only pierce the skin, the blood fixes and con- 
geals, and the strongest animals fall motionless ; but 
the flesh may be eaten with entire safety, and retains 
its native relish and flavor. The chief ingredient of 
the poison is the juice extracted from the root of the 
curac, a kind of shrub. In the other parts of South 
America, they use the Manchenille which operates 
with the same activity. 

The Caribs. — When Columbus, in 1493, discovered 
the beautiful cluster of islands, called the Antilles, 
they were the abode of the Caribs, a people who were 
regarded almost as demons by the gentle and effemin- 
ate Indians of Cuba, and the adjacent islands. They 
were indeed warlike, and, to their enemies, ferocious. 
They were also cannibals, and followed other revolt- 
ing practices of savage life. 

They were, however, further advanced in the arts 
than the other inhabitants of the West Indies, and 
possessed in a higher degree the moral and intellec- 
tual elements of civilization. They had houses, called 
carbets, set on posts, and thatched with leaves of the 
plantain. These were divided into rooms, according 
to the wants of the family. They had boats with 
sails, forty feet in length ; they fabricated hammocks 



184 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 

of cotton cloth, nicely fitted and highly ornamented ; 
they made bread of the manioc ; had seasonings of 
pimento and lemon juice for their meats, which were 
well cooked ; and possessed the art of making intoxi- 
cating beverages. They manufactured cotton, but not 
to cover the body, for they went naked. They deco- 
rated their persons with metallic ornaments, and their 
heads with feathers. Painting the body was univer- 
sal. Even when a person died, his corpse was painted 
red, and the mustaches were rendered peculiarly black 
and shining. In war they used poisoned arrows. 

Their love of liberty was indomitable. Their con- 
querors attempted to reduce them to a state of slavery, 
but they chose rather to die, than to submit to such 
servitude. Under continued wrongs and oppressions, 
they dwindled away, and have faded from the islands 
where they were first discovered, and to which they 
gave their name. The whole race was supposed to 
have perished, but Humboldt discovered that some of 
the Indians on the Orinoko, are of this stock. These 
are described as a fine race, with figures of a reddish 
copper-color, resembling antique statues of bronze. 
They shave a great part of the forehead, which gives 
them somewhat the appearance of monks ; they wear 
only a tuft on the crown. They have dark, intelligent 
eyes, a gravity in their manners, and in their features 
an expression of severity, and even of sadness. They 
still retain the pride of a conquering people, who, be- 
fore the arrival of the Spaniards, had driven before 
them all the native tribes in that part of the continent. 
A great proportion of them, however, have now been 
civilized in a surprising degree by the missionaries, 
who exercise over them an almost absolute sway, 



VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 185 

Each holiday they present themselves, loaded with 
offerings of almost every kind which can be acceptable 
to the priest ; and after divine service, those of both 
sexes, who have been guilty of any offence, receive 
in his presence a sound whipping, which they bear 
with exemplary patience. They cruelly torment their 
children by imprinting on them the barbarous orna- 
ment produced by raising the flesh in stripes along 
the legs and thighs. They are free, however, 
from the equally savage practice of flattening the 
head by compression, which is general among the 
other tribes of the Orinoco, the specimens of whose 
crania, shown as destitute of forehead, are merely 
skulls shaped between planks. In this country occur 
the caste of Albinos, with white hair, of weakly and 
delicate constitution, low stature, and very effeminate 
character : they have large eyes, and are so very 
weak-sighted, that they cannot endure the rays of the 
sun, though they can see clearly by moonlight. 



jfcfiok^ 




W¥ 



16* 



186 



THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OF NORTH 
AMERICA. 

The country east of the Mississippi, from Florida 
to Hudson's Bay, was in the possession of various 
tribes of Indians, when the first English settlement 
was made at Jamestown, in 1607. Their number has 
been variously estimated from 500,000 to 4,000,000. 
In the space of a little more than two centuries, they 
have been swept away, with the exception of a few 
insignificant remnants. Most of the tribes are entirely 
extinct, and are without a name, except in the pages 
of the historian. A few have receded before the tide 
of civilization, and their descendants are found scat- 
tered throughout the Great Valley of the West. 

The most celebrated of these eastern tribes, were 
the Massachusetts, who occupied the shores of the 
bay which bears their name, and were resident at the 
places now known as Salem, Charlestown, Lynn, and 
the islands of Boston harbor : the Pokanokets, the 
Narragansetts of Rhode Island, the Pequots of Con- 
necticut, the Five Nations of New York, embracing 
the Mohawks, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas and Canan- 
daiguas, the Delawares of the Middle States, the Yem- 
assees of the Carolinas, and, farther south, the Cataw- 
bas, Cherokees, Creeks, and Chickasaws. There 
were many other tribes, and some of considerable im- 
portance, but these we have named, chiefly figure in 
the early history of the country. 



THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. 187 

These Indians were all in the strictest sense sava- 
ges. They had none of them the slightest knowledge 
of the use of iron, nor had they any tame animals. 
Their government was of the simplest form, and their 
arts extended no farther than to supply them with 
the common necessaries of life. Their religion was 
a crude superstition, embracing the general idea of a 
Great Spirit, with notions of many inferior divinities. 
Their dwellings were rude tenements, made of poles, 
thatched with leaves, or covered with skins. They 
had no towns, and no commerce, 

Yet these people appeared to live for the most part 
a life of ease, in the midst of abundance, enjoying the 
wild pleasures of savage life. Around the heads of 
bays, and along the banks of rivers, where fish were 
plentiful, and where also the deer was abundant, they 
seemed to collect in swarms. In other parts of the 
country, they were more scattered, and there were 
some considerable districts entirely uninhabited. 

In two respects the American Indians were a very 
remarkable race. There is a striking resemblance 
throughout the whole family, from Labrador to Pata- 
gonia. There is no other example of a population so 
widely spread, which bears such uniformity of form 
and aspect. At the same time, these people seemed 
to be peculiarly unchangeable in their physical char- 
acteristics. Even those who remain among us, the 
descendants of the Penobscots and the Mohicans, 
though degraded by imbibing the vices of civilized so- 
ciety, have still the same general aspect as their pro- 
genitors two centuries ago. Wherever you meet an 
Indian, you are struck with a look of mingled mystery 



188 THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. 

and melancholy in his countenance, a peculiar lofti- 
ness in his bearing, and a taciturnity which it is diffi- 
cult to overcome* 

The tribes that remain in the West possess the same 
aspect and the same physical attributes as their fore- 
fathers. They have also many customs which have 
come down to them from their ancestors. Yet most 
of them have undergone serious modifications in their 
modes of life. Nearly all have obtained horses from 
the white people, and some of them are rich in these 
animals. Most of them have fire-arms, and instead of 
skins for clothing, they get blankets and cloths from 
the whites. They have also knives, beads and trinkets 
of various sorts, which they obtain from the white 
traders. They are all savages, however, except the 
Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, who have partially 
adopted the habits of civilized life. We propose now 
to give a general view of the savage tribes of North 
America, chiefly as they were between one and two 
centuries ago. We shall then present a separate 
sketch of the leading tribes, noticing some of the 
striking customs of each. 




189 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE SAV- 
AGE TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. 




General View. 

The aspect of the North American Indians is 
grave, even to sadness ; at the same time they are 
modest and respectful; and, however ignorant and 
degraded, there is about them a native dignity that 
commands respect. They are, in general, near the 
height of Europeans. There is among them a great 



190 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

uniformity of color, which is compared to that of cop- 
per, but they may be said to be nearer the complexion 
of well smoked ham. Among their prominent fea- 
tures are high cheek bones, with the face, in the line 
below the eyes, uncommonly wide ; long, sleek, black 
hair, finer than a horse's mane, but much resembling 
it. A beard was universally considered disgraceful, 
and was plucked out with great perseverance. Mr. 
Jefferson says, he has seen an Indian beau with a look- 
ing-glass in his hand for hours together, pulling out 
every hair upon the chin he could discover. Their 
foreheads were almost invariably retiring. They were 
remarkably straight and well limbed, and a deformed 
person was rare among them. Health was generally 
enjoyed by all; they were capable of enduring great 
fatigue and severe hardships. The Indian has been 
truly called " the Stoic of the woods, the man without 
a tear." It has been said, that in amputation and 
other surgical operations, their nerves do not shrink 
or show the same tendency to spasm with those of the 
whites. When a savage, to explain his insensibility 
to cold, had reminded the white man how little his 
own face was affected by it, in consequence of constant 
exposure, he added, " my body is all face." 

Many of them lived to a great age, but none of 
them were much esteemed unless they had great bodily 
strength. When parents or relatives became old, and 
infirm, it was considered as an act of mercy for the 
nearest of kin to release them from the sorrows of life. 

They did not allow themselves to be hurried in 
their words and actions, by an intemperate warmth, 
except in cases of hatred to their enemies, which 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 191 

sometimes carried them to excess. The best trained 
courtier has not a countenance so inaccessible to the 
displays of emotion as the Indian. 

If he rs absent many months in war, or hunting, and 
is met by his wife and children on his return, he con- 
tinues on homeward, without taking the slightest 
notice of them ; and when arrived at his hut, he sits 
down and smokes with an aspect of entire unconcern. 
It may be several hours before he relates what has 
happened, although a father, brother, or son may have 
been left dead on the field. Should he, in hunting, go 
many days without food, and call at the hut of a 
friend, he takes care not to show the least impatience 
at his famishing condition, lest he should be wanting 
in fortitude, and be called a woman. 

An Indian seldom jests, and generally speaks low 
and under his breath ; loquacity he deems an indica- 
tion of being a trifling person, whose deeds are so 
much less, just in proportion as his words are more. 4 
If you tell him that his son has taken many scalps, he 
says, " It is well ;" — if his son is slain, he says, " It 
does not signify ; " and yet, notwithstanding this, there 
are many proofs of parental and filial affection, that 
vie with those in the cherished tales of antiquity. 

If an Indian has a friend in danger of being killed, 
by some one to whom he is obnoxious, he does not 
tell him so in plain words, but he asks, in an indiffer- 
ent manner, what way he is going that day ; then 
with the same indifference he tells him, a dog lies 
near that spot that might do him harm, and the hint 
proves sufficient. Their politeness never allows them 
to contradict a statement ; so that it is often difficult to 
know what impression is made on their minds. 



192 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

As a general custom the women are the drudges 
of the community — bringing home their game — per- 
forming the out-door labor of their simple agriculture, 
&c. They also prepared the ordinary food and be- 
verage in use among them, and took care of the chil- 
dren, of whom the fathers had no charge. While the 
women were invariably the slaves of the men, still the 
servitude was less oppressive with some tribes than 
with others. From a happy conformation, their con- 
finements detained them but a few hours from their 
laborious occupations. The newborn infant is soon 
placed on a board, stuffed with moss ; it is laid on its 
back and wrapped in skins to keep it warm, and se- 
cured with small bent hoops fastened with strings. It 
is then hung to the branches of trees, or a stump, post, 
or stone, while the squaws go on with their labor. 
When they are taken out, the boys go naked ; the girls 
wear a shift or short petticoat. 

The Indians in walking are remarkable for placing 
one foot in a right line before the other, and seldom 
turn their toes from that line. When several are tra- 
velling together, they walk in a line, one after another, 
or what is called "Indian file." Mr. Flint says, 
" We have frequently seen the husband and wife, the 
mother and daughter, the father and son, and even two 
equals in age, walking together, apparently engaged 
in earnest conversation, but never advancing abreast." 
Among the tribes who have horses, the women ride 
astride, and sit with their knees bent, a custom which 
makes them walk badly. 

The habits of minute observation, cultivated by 
their mode of life, are well illustrated by the following 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 193 

anecdote. A hunter belonging to one of the western 
tribes, on his return home one day, to his hut, discov- 
ered that his venison, which had been hung up to dry, 
had been stolen. After making observations upon the 
spot, he set off in pursuit of the thief, whom he 
tracked through the woods. Having gone a little 
distance, he met some persons of whom he enquired 
if they had seen & little old white man, with a short 
gun, accompanied by a small dog with a short tail. 
They replied in the affirmative ; and, upon the Indian 
assuring them that the man thus described had 
stolen his venison, they desired to be informed how he 
was able to give such a minute description of a person 
he had not seen ? The Indian replied thus, " the 
thief I know is a little man, by his having made a pile 
of stones to stand cipon, in order to reach the venison 
from the height I hung it standing on the ground ; 
that he is an old man, I know by his short steps, 
which I have traced over the dead leaves in the 
woods ; and that he is a ivhite man, I know by his 
turning out his toes when he walks, which an Indian 
never does. His gun I know to be short by the mark 
the muzzle made in rubbing the bark of the tree on 
which it leaned ; that his dog is small I know by his 
tracks ; and that he has a short tail, I discovered by 
the mark it made in the dust where he was sitting at 
the time his master was taking down the meat. 

Dress. — Before the arrival of the Europeans in 
America, the usual dress of the Northern Indians was 
composed of the skins of wild beasts, which were 
dressed with great card, and made into robes, petti- 
coats, trousers and blankets. In summer their clothing 
M v.— 17 



194 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

hung loosely about them, and was, by the men, often 
laid entirely aside ; but in winter they wrapped their 



garments closely about their waists. Upon their feet 
they wore shoes without heels, generally made of 
moose-hide or buckskin, and called moccasins. These 
were fitted tightly to the shape of the foot, and were 
gathered at the toes and ankles, and fastened with 
thongs. In winter they wore snow-shoes, consisting 
of a net-work of deer skin thongs, upon a frame-work 
of small sticks. Upon the loose edges of the skins 
which formed their clothing, they fastened porcupine- 
quills, and often even the scalps of their enemies. 
The common dress of the women, who paid great re- 
gard to the claims of modesty, was a shift of leather, 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 195 

which covered the body, leaving the arms bare ; and a 




Snow-shoes. 
petticoat of the same material, reaching from the 
waist to the knees. 

The Virginian and other Southern Indians, dressed 
in much the same manner with those of the north, ex- 
cepting that they were obliged to adapt their dress to 
the greater heat of the climate. In the hottest parts of 
summer, very little clothing of any sort was used. 

In later times, furs and skins have gone very much 
out of vogue, giving way to the cloths and cottons of 
the manufacture of the whites. The garment now 
usually worn by the men is a figured cotton shirt ; the 
women wear petticoats of the same material. Blank- 
ets and leggins of blue, red, and green cloth, are in 
ordinary use by both sexes. 

The Indians have always displayed a great taste 
for personal decorations, and have perhaps, as much 
vanity in respect to their necklaces of fishbones, and 
earrings of sea shells, as the fashionables of Broadway 
for their laces and silks. The quantity and beauty 
of their ornaments depended not only upon the rank 



196 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

or business of the wearer, but upon the tribe to which 
he belonged, as well as upon his ambition to wear and 
his power to obtain. The hair was sometimes braided 
and decorated with small ornaments of silver ; some- 
times it was filled with plumes and feathers, and often 
cut and fashioned into fantastic and whimsical shapes. 
The northwestern tribes shave the hair entirely off 
the head, considering it a point of chivalry, however, 
to leave a tuft on the top, so that, in war, if the more 
difficult part of capturing is accomplished, the busi- 
ness of scalping may be easily performed. 

Necklaces, arm-bands, wrist-bands, broaches, and 
buckles, made of beads, shells and silver, are very 
commonly used. The Indians of some tribes, upon 
festive occasions, fasten brass bells and thimbles around 
their ankles, which produce a tinkling noise, and thus 
attract the attention of spectators. Ear-rings of bone, 
sea-shells, and stone, are very common ; they formerly 
wore pendants in the nose, made of silver, and re- 
sembling a dollar in size and shape. This ornament, 
which was once indispensable to a fashionable Indian's 
toilet, has lately gone almost entirely out of fashion. 

The use of paint and grease, by the Indians, can 
hardly be said to have been solely for the purpose of 
ornament, for a permanent coat over the whole skin 
was generally formed by their mixture, serving as 
much the purposes of utility as of decoration. It de- 
fended the body from cold, and from the numerous 
insects which fill the forests in summer ; and helped 
to preserve the strength of the warrior or hunter, by 
checking perspiration. 

Tattooing consists in making gashes in the fleshy 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



197 



with some sharp instrument, and then filling them 
with some indelible dye or ink, so as to make images 
permanent through life. The figures thus formed, 
vary according to the fancy of the individual. The 
necessity of watchwords is, by this means, some- 
what removed, as most of the tribes had one figure in 
common, called their totem, by which all the mem- 
bers were at once known. 




Foppery in dress is almost entirely confined to 
the men, the women being usually modest and sim- 
ple in their attire. Mr. Flint gives us the following 
description of an Indian dandy. "A young Indian 
warrior is notoriously the most thoroughgoing beau 
17* 



198 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

in the world. Broadway and Bond street furnish no 
subjects that will spend as much time, or endure as 
much crimping and confinement, to appear in full 
dress. We think that we have observed such a char- 
acter constantly employed with his paints and his 
pocket-glass, for three full hours, laying on his paints 
and arranging his tresses, and contemplating, with 
visible satisfaction, from time to time, the progress of 
his attractions. The chiefs and warriors, in full 
dress, have one, two, or three clasps of silver about 
their arms, and generally jewels in their ears. Paint- 
ed porcupine quills are twirled in their hair. Tails 
of animals hang from the head behind, or from the 
point where they were originally appended to the 
animal. A necklace of bears' or alligators' teeth, or 
claws of the bald eagle, or common red beads, or, 
wanting these, a kind of rosary of red thorns hangs 
about the neck. From the knees to the feet the legs 
are ornamented with great numbers of little, perforat- 
ed cylindrical pieces of silver, or brass, that tinkle as 
the person walks. If to all this, he add an Ameri- 
can hat, and a soldier's coat, of blue, faced with red, 
over the customary calico shirt, he steps firmly on 
the ground, to give his tinklers a simultaneous noise, 
and apparently considers his appearance with as much 
complacency, as the human bosom can be supposed to 
feel." 

Habitations, Furniture, &c. — The dwellings of 
the American Indians, both Northern and Southern, 
were so much alike in their general appearance, that 
the Europeans, on their arrival, could detect no dis- 
tinction in their forms, and the materials of which 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



199 



they were composed, though the manner of driving 
the stakes was sufficient to inform an Indian what 
ribe had encamped. All the American Indians, but 







Chippewa lodges of the present day. 

more particularly those of New England, constructed 
their habitations by bending and twisting young trees 
together, in the form of an arbor, and interweaving 
with them, nets and rushes ; at other times they would 
drive stakes into the ground, and cover them with 
skins. These dwellings were called tuigicams. They 
tiad no chimneys, and the smoke of their fires was al- 
lowed to pass out by an opening left in the top of the 
house. Their doors were merely apertures, which, 
in stormy weather, were covered with pieces of skin, 
They chose their situations for their villages with 
great discrimination, and were always guided in their 
choice by the chances they saw of obtaining plenty 



SOO INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

of fuel and food. They were never attracted by a 
picturesque and romantic spot, nor by a commanding 
prospect ; but where there were rivers and brooks with 
fresh water and fresh fish, there you might always 
see clusters of Indian huts and wigwams. 

The following description of the houses of the New 
England Indians is from Wood's " New England Pros- 
pect," published in London in 1664. 

" The frames of their houses are formed like our 
garden-arbours, something more round, very strong 
and handsome, covered with close-wrought mats of 
their owne weaving, which deny entrance to any drop 
of raine, though it come both fierce and long, neither 
can the piercing North winde, finde a crannie, through 
which he can conveigh his cooling breath ; they be 
warmer than our English houses ; at the top is a 
square hole for the smoakes evacuation, which in rainy 
weather is covered with a pluver : these bee such 
smoakie dwellings, that when there is good fires, they 
are not able to stand upright, but lie all along under 
the smoake, never using any stooles or chaires, it being 
as rare to see an Indian sit on a stoole at home, as it 
is strange to see an English man sit on his heels 
abroad. 

"Their houses are smaller in the summer, when their 
families be dispersed, by reason of heate and occasions. 
In winter they make some fiftie or threescore foote 
long, fortie or fiftie men being inmates under one 
roofe ; and as is their husbands occasion these poore 
tectonists are often troubled like snailes, to carrie their 
houses on their backs sometimes to fishing places, 
other times to hunting places, after that to a planting 
place, where it abides the longest." 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 201 

The only difference between the dwellings of the 
Northern and Southern Indians was, that while the 
former were built merely with reference to the conve- 
nience of their owners, the latter were constructed 
with some regard to beauty and order, This fact is 
accounted for by supposing that the Indians of the 
south had a greater abundance of fuel and food, a 
warmer climate, and a more fertile soil, and thus had 
some leisure for respecting the claims of decency and 
regularity. Their dwellings were therefore more 
tasteful, and their general appearance more neat. 
They had a very common custom, also, of surround- 
ing whole villages with fortifications of upright poles, 
set in the ground, against their enemies, generally 
ten or twelve feet high, and often of two or three thick- 
nesses. Even when the whole settlement was not 
thus defended, they enclosed within palisades, the 
house of the king, their idols and sacred relics. 

The furniture used by the Indians of America was 
always of the simplest kind, and the smallest value. 
T^eir beds were composed of mats, skins, leaves, or 
boughs. Roger Williams says, " their fire is instead 
of our bed-clothes. And so themselves and any that 
have occasion to lodge with them must be content to 
turne very often to the fire, if the night be cold, and 
they who first wake must repaire the fire." Chairs 
and stools were entirely unknown. Their beds, such 
as they were, furnished all the seats they required. 
They had wooden and stone vessels, and baskets of 
osier and birch-bark. Their sharp instruments were 
composed of stones, shells, bones or reeds ; the use of 
iron and steel bein^ unknown. Utensils of curious 



202 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

shapes and for purposes not understood, are at tins 
day continually found buried in the soil. 

The manners of the Indians of the north and west 
are gradually becoming improved by their contact with 
the whites. Their dwellings, therefore, are better, and 
the improvements of civilization are finding their way 
into their midst. They now often make their floors 
of planks, and nails are .used to some extent. In the 
remotest parts of the country, however, the customs 
of the whites have not penetrated, and the huts and 
furniture of the inhabitants are much the same as 
those used by their ancestors two hundred years ago. 
The wandering tribes use tents, covered with skins, 
which are carried with them from place to place. 
Some of these bands have mud villages where they 
reside in winter, being accustomed to remove from 
place to place during the summer. 

Food. — The food of the Indians was coarse and 
simple in the extreme, and totally destitute of season- 
ing ; and although the vast prairies of the west, are 
covered for miles together with an incrustation of salt, 
and though the country abounds in salt-springs, in 
their primitive state, they never look upon it as an 
article of service. They fed upon the flesh of the 
bear, the buffalo, elk, deer, beaver and raccoon ; upon 
wild geese, turkeys and ducks ; in short, upon every 
variety of flesh, fish and fowl, which the country af- 
forded. In summer they eat a mixture of corn and 
beans, called succotash, of which they were very fond. 
Their winter's food consisted of such vegetables as they 
could save during the summer, together with acorns, 
nuts and roots. " These akornes they drie," says 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 203 

Roger Williams, " and in case of want of come, by 
much boyling they make a good dish of them ; yea, 
sometimes in plentie of come doe they eat these 
akornes for a noveltie." 

All the tribes sat cross-legged at their meals, or 
rather with their ankles crossed in front of them ; or 
sometimes they rested in a reclining posture, leaning 
upon one elbow, in the fashion of the ancient Romans. 
They had no regular meals, but eat whenever they 
were hungry, and then in a most voracious manner. 
They sometimes fasted for many days, but when any 
food was to be had, amply repaid themselves for their 
previous privation. Their only drink was water, cold 
and fresh as it bubbled from the spring. 

At the banquets the men formed the first groups ; in 
the next were the women, children and dogs, a hetero- 
geneous assemblage, who were often very gluttonous; 
while the men were comparatively moderate. It is 
said, that on the aggregate, there never was a nation 
or people who seemed to care less for the pleasures of 
the table, and who in reality consumed less than the 
North American Indians. They understood the mean- 
ing of the maxim, though they had never heard it, 
" eat to live, not live to eat." 

The southern Indians suffered less from scarcity of 
food, than those of the north, for their rivers gave 
them more fish, the woods supplied them with more 
fruits, and the fields with more game. In Virginia 
and the neighborhood, there were large quantities of 
cherries, plums, currants and berries ; chestnuts, 
hazlenuts and walnuts; grapes, melons, potatoes and 
pumpkins They used to bruise the strawberry in a 



204 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



mortar, and mix it with meal, thus forming a kind of 
bread. They also made a dish to this day called 
hominy, by boiling pounded corn ten or twelve hours. 

Of the cooking of the Indians it has been said, " It 
has nothing commendable in it, but that it is performed 
with little trouble ; they have no other sauce but a 
good stomach, which they seldom want." They had 
three ways of cooking their flesh and fish. They 
boiled them in vessels of clay, or bark, by putting 
into them stones heated for the purpose. They broiled 
on the naked coals, and roasted by covering with hot 
ashes. Another method was to barbacue their meats, 
which consisted in hanging it up on sticks placed at a 
short distance from the fire. They used parched corn 
to a great extent. They extracted sugar from the 
maple tree, and used it to sweeten their cakes which 
were made of ground corn mixed with chestnuts, beans 
and berries. 

The food of the Indians of the present day continues 
to be much the same as in former times. Their mode 
of cookery has altered but little, and the change has 
been caused by the neighborhood of the whites. They 
have obtained from them various convenient utensils 
for cooking, of which their ancestors had no knowl- 
edge. Wild rice- is now one of their staple articles 
of food, which grows abundantly among the marshes 
of the west. The Chippewas and other tribes in the 
vicinity of the Great Lakes, subsist at certain sea- 
sons to a great extent upon the white fish, which is 
considered as being superior to the trout or salmon. 
Among the Rocky Mountains, on the banks of rivers 
flowing into the Pacific Ocean, there are tribes who 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 205 

eat nothing but fish, and look upon everything of the 
flesh kind with superstitious dread. 

There is a great difference among the various tribes 
of Indians in regard to taste and choice of food. The 
Chippewas will eat almost everything, from the wild- 
cat and wolf, to the horse and dog, which the Dela- 
wares and other southern Indians would rather die than 
touch. The Five Nations were never scrupulous in 
their selection of food. Some savages cut up their feath- 
ered game and boil and eat it without any other pre- 
paration than to pluck off a few of the larger feathers. 

It has been said of the Indians, as a mass, that they 
were accustomed to eat human flesh ; in short, that 
they were cannibals. This charge has been unsup- 
ported by proof, and indeed, all the light obtained on 
the subject seems to refute rather than to sustain it. 
Cases have undoubtedly occurred, when, pressed by 
famine, the savage has killed and eaten one of his own 
race ; but so has the white man in like circumstances. 
A remarkable incident has been furnished by Mr. 
Henry, a traveller among the Indians, which will 
serve to give us some information on the subject. It 
is a belief among the Indians, that a person who has 
once eaten human flesh, will never be satisfied with 
any other food. A young Indian, belonging to a tribe 
who had fled from their home on account of famine, 
came suddenly into that part of the country where 
Mr. Henry was. His appearance is described as ac- 
tually frightful ; he was in an exhausted and starving 
state. From various circumstances which were con- 
nected with his arrival, he was suspected of having 
eaten human flesh to appease his hunger, and this 
v.— 18 



206 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

was afterwards found to be the fact. He seemed per- 
fectly indifferent to the food which was prepared for 
him, but keeping his eyes fixed upon some children 
in the lodge, frequently exclaimed, "how fat they 
are ! " His behavior, of course, excited alarm, and 
the Indians, apprehensive that he would find some 
means of killing and eating their children, determined 
to put him to death. Without informing him of their 
resolution, they despatched him the next day with a 
single stroke of the axe. It is a remarkable fact that 
the savage tribes of North America, should have been 
thus free from cannibalism, while it is well known 
that the civilized Mexicans sacrificed human victims by 
thousands and devoured their flesh, not only in cele- 
bration of religious rites, but also as a delicious treat. 
There can be but little doubt that this horrid custom 
was introduced by the priests, and that religious fan- 
aticism subverted the natural instincts of the race 
against the practice. 

As we have said, the Indians in early days had no 
other drink than water, and all kinds of intoxicating 
beverages were wholly unknown to them. They 
were not slow, however, in making acquaintance with 
spirituous liquors, introduced by the whites. These, 
which they called fire-water, became the bane of the 
race, and were one of the chief instruments by which 
they were first degraded, and then swept from the 
earth. Spirits are now introduced among the western 
tribes by the unscrupulous traders. When they are 
once under the influence of liquor, they lose all self- 
command, and have rather the appearance of demons 
than men. Even the chiefs give themselves up to the 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 207 

intoxicating spell, and during its influence, appear to 
be totally bereft of their reason. The women are not 
permitted to engage in these revels : it is deemed their 
province to remain sober and take care of their drunk- 
en husbands. When they see that these are becoming 
intoxicated, they prudently conceal their knives, toma- 
hawks, bows and arrows, and other weapons, so that 
they may not kill each other in their brawls. 

Education. — The children were left almost entire- 
ly to form their character under the influence of exam- 
ple and experience. Nothing like regular training 
was adopted. They were never chastised with blows 
lest it might damp their spirit and substitute slavish 
motives for that love of liberty which their parents 
desired them to feel in its fullest extent. When 
grown, they were never commanded in an authorita- 
tive manner, and even the wishes of the chiefs were 
made known rather in the form of persuasion than 
imperative injunction. 

Great efforts were made by the parents to inspire 
their children with revenge against their enemies, and 
they were made to drink the blood of their captives to 
increase this feeling. They were also instructed in 
the traditions of their fathers. Great respect for old 
age was inculcated, and the advice of a grandfather 
was considered like the words of an oracle. Obe- 
dience to parents is obtained by appealing to the 
pride and ambition of the children. If a father says, 
" I want such a thing done ; I want one of my children 
to run upon such an errand ; let me see who is the 
good child that will do it," — the word good operates 
as a powerful incentive, and the children generally 



208 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



vie with each other in fulfilling the wishes of the pa- 
rent. Praise always follows good actions, and the 
ambition of the boys is particularly stimulated to ex- 
cel in athletic exercises, and in every daring and manly 
achievement. Awkwardness, ignorance, and coward- 
ice are made the theme of the bitterest ridicule. 

The names of children are generally given after 
animals, as the beaver, otter, rattlesnake, blackfish ; 
and other titles, perhaps significant or descriptive, are. 
bestowed according to some qualities which the chil- 
dren are fancied to possess. In after life, other names 
are added, having- allusion to remarkable events. 




Indian woman and child. 

Domestic Life. — In civilized society, the chief in- 
terests of life lie within that little kingdom which is 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 209 

called home. But with the savage, the larger portion 
of his thoughts and feelings are bestowed upon objects 
beyond the precincts of the domestic circle. War and 
the chase absorb the souls of the men, and out-door 
cares occupy a considerable share of the attention 
of the women. William Wood, whom we have be- 
fore quoted, thus speaks of the duties of the New 
England Indian women : 

" An other work is their planting of corne, wherein 
they exceede our English husband-men, keeping it so 
cleare with their Clamme shell-hooes, as if it were a 
garden rather than a corne-field, not suffering a choak- 
mg weede to advance his audacious head above their 
infant corne, or an undermining worme to spoile his 
spumes. Their come being ripe, they gather it, and 
drying it hard in the sunne, conveigh it to their 
barnes, which be great holes digged in the ground in 
forme of a brasse pot, seeled with rinds of trees, 
wherein they put their corne, covering it from the in- 
quisitive search of their gurmandizing husbands, who 
would eate up both their allowed portion, and re- 
served seede, if they knew where to finde it. But our 
hogges having found a way to unhindge their barne 
doores, and robbe their garners, they are glad to im- 
plore their husbands helpe to roule the bodies of trees 
over their holes, to prevent those pioners, whose 
theeverie they as much hate as their flesh. 

" An other of their employments is their summer 
processions to get lobsters for their husbands, where- 
with they baite their hookes when they goe a fish- 
ing for basse or codfish. This is an every dayes 
walke, be the weather cold or hot, the waters rough 
N 18* 



210 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

or calme, they must dive sometimes over head and 
eares for a lobster, which often shakes them by 
their hands with a churlish nippe, and bids them 
adiew. The tide being spent, they trudge home two 
or three miles, with a hundred weight of lobsters at 
their backs, and if none, a hundred scoules meete 
them at home, and a hungry belly for two days after. 
Their husbands having caught any fish, they bring it 
in their boates, as farre as they can by water, and 
there leave it ; as it was their care to catch it, so it 
must be their wives paines to fetch it home, or fast : 
which done, they must dresse it and cooke it, dish it, 
and present it, see it eaten over their shoulders; and 
their loggerships having filled their paunches, their 
sweete lullabies scramble for the scrappes. 

" In the summer these Indian women when lobsters 
be in their plenty and prime, they drie them to keepe 
for winter, erecting scaffolds in the hot sun-shine, 
making fires likewise underneath them, by whose 
smoake the flies are expelled, till the substance re- 
mains hard and drie. In this manner they drie basse 
and other fishes without salt, cutting them very thinne 
to dry suddainely, before the flies spoil them, or the 
raine moist them, having a speciall care to hang them 
in their smoakie houses, in the night and dankish 
weather. 

" In summer they gather flagges, of which they 
make matts for houses, and hempe and rushes, with 
dying stuffe of which they make curious baskets with 
intermixed colours and portractures of antique Image- 
rie : these baskets be of all sizes from a quart to a 
quarter, in which they carry their luggage. In winter 



INDIANS OF NOETH AMERICA. 211 

time they are their husbands' caterers, trudging to the 
clamm bankes for their belly timber, and their por- 
ters to lugge home their venison, which their lazi- 
nesse exposes to the woolves till they impose it upon 
their wives shoulders. They likewise sew their hus- 
bands shooes, and weave coates of Turkie feathers, 
besides all their ordinary household drudgerie which 
daily lies upon them." 

Of the treatment of babes the writer says : " The 
young Infant being greased and sooted, wrapt in a 
beaver skin, bound to his good behaviour with his 
feete upon a board two foote long and one foote broade, 
his face exposed to all nipping weather ; this little 
Pappouse travells about with his bare footed mother 
to paddle in the ice Clamm banks after three or foure 
dayes of age have sealed his passeboard and his moth- 
ers recoverie. For their carriage it is very civill, 
smiles being the greatest grace of their mirth ; their 
musick is lullabies to quiet their children, who gene- 
rally are as quiet as if they had neither spleene or 
lungs. To hear one of these Indians unseene, a good 
eare might easily mistake their untaught voyce for 
the warbling of a well tuned instrument. Such com- 
mand have they of their voices." 

In the outset of Indian life, the husband usually pro- 
vides the wigwam for his family to live in, together 
with the axes, hoes, and implements of agriculture ; he 
builds a canoe, and makes a variety of bowls, dishes 
and other utensils for culinary purposes. He then 
proceeds to supply his family with food and clothing, 
which he procures by fishing, hunting and trapping. 
This duty is constant, and sometimes severe. He 



212 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

rises very early, and frequently has the good fortune 
to return to his wigwam with a deer or wild turkey 
for breakfast. 

The duty of the wigwam for the wife is very tri- 
fling ; there is no scouring of paint, nor scrubbing of 
floors. A single kettle over the fire, or a cake made 
of meal, in the ashes, is all that requires her attention 
in the cooking department. But she has work to per- 
form in the field, such as sowing, reaping, and hoe- 
ing. After the harvest, she has little to do, except to 
procure firewood and cook the daily food. The care 
of the children does not impose a heavy burden. 
During infancy they remain a large part of the time 
strapped to the cradle, and demand little attention. 




Indian cradle. 

When farther advanced, their clothing is slight, and 
they are left much to themselves. 

On the return of the husband from a journey, on 
entering the house he says, " I am returned,"— his 
wife replies, " I rejoice.' 5 He then asks after the 
health of the family, and, being satisfied on this 
point, says nothing of himself or his adventures till 
the evening, when he tells them all at full length to 
his neighbors and family. 

In general, the intercourse between the husband 
and wife is of a kindly nature. She is proud of his 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 213 

achievements in war, and is gratified to see him the 
object of attention and respect. She desires also to 
see him well dressed, and he has a similar feeling 
with respect to her. If she is sick, he takes the ut- 
most pains to procure medicine and dainties for her. 
A Delaware has been known to travel forty miles to 
obtain some cranberries for his sick wife ; and in a 
similar case, another Indian travelled a hundred miles 
to get some corn, which, at the time, was very scarce. 
He was able to obtain only his hat full, but for this he 
parted with his horse, and returned on foot. 

Hospitality is among the chief virtues of the In- 
dians ; they will even share their last mouthful with 
a stranger and those of a different nation. If any re- 
fuse to partake of their food it is a matter of offence. 
All are allowed to enter any lodge, even that of the 
chiefs, when they are hungry and take what they can 
find to eat. The most worthless drone is not an ex- 
ception to this rule, though an improvident person, 
who lives upon others, is branded with the epithet of 
poltroon and beggar. Chateaubriand says that " Hospi- 
tality still lingers on the banks of the Mississippi ; it will 
accompany the advanced guard of settlers down the 
shores of the Missouri, be driven thence to the neigh- 
borhood of the Columbia river, and be finally drowned 
in the Pacific." 

Marriage. — Courtship with the Indians is usually 
a brief and simple affair. If there are no parents, a 
man makes a direct proposition to a woman he fan- 
cies, to become his wife. If the answer is favorable, 
she usually goes to live with him immediately. In 
some cases, the admirer goes to the cabin of the ob- 



214 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

ject of his affection and regard, and sits by her side. 
If she suffers this, it is significant of her assent, and 
the marriage accordingly follows. In most cases, 
where there are parents, the mother of the lover 
conducts the negotiation, generally opening it with a 
present to the mother of the girl, with a leg of veni- 
son, or a piece of bear's meat, saying that the animal 
was killed by her son. If the proposal thus implied 
is acceptable, the mother of the girl prepares a savo- 
ry dish, perhaps of succotash, and carries it to the 
mother of the lover, saying, " This comes from my 
daughter's field." A few other presents are usually 
exchanged ; intimacy between the young people en- 
sues ; the man raises a wigwam, and, being supplied 
Dy his parents, with a few bowls and baskets, an axe, 
a hoe, and a kettle, the bride and bridegroom take 
possession of their new residence, and live as man 
and wife. The marriage is celebrated by no particu- 
lar ceremony. 

The customs in relation to courtship vary in the 
different tribes. In many cases, the whole affair is 
managed by the parents. Divorce is allowed, and 
frequently practised. If the husband is dissatisfied, 
he may put away the wife, and she may leave him 
when she pleases. In point of fact, however, repu- 
diation or desertion, without serious cause, is regard- 
ed as disreputable, and thus restraints are imposed 
upon improvident and causeless separations. Polyga- 
my is allowed, and an Indian usually has as many 
wives as he is able to maintain. These, trained to 
their lot, generally live together without jealousy or 
disagreement. If, indeed, the husband pays a dis« 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 215 

proportionate attention to one wife, the neglected 
partner will sometimes indicate her feelings by kick- 
ing his dog, or spilling his food on the ground. In 
cases of separation, the children are divided between 
the parents. When it chances that two wives quarrel, 
the tongue, teeth and nails of the parties are often 
called upon to aid in carrying on the war. In these 
cases the husband usually sits by with an air of un- 
concern, smoking his pipe, and seeming lost in 
thoughts about something else. If the dispute becomes 
serious, he rises with the air of a judge and separates 
the combatants. 

Arts and Manufactures, — The utensils were few 
in number, and simple in kind. Their dishes and 
spoons were made of a kind of box-wood, and also of 
the skulls of bisons. They manufactured a few earth- 
en vessels, and made bowls of the knotty excrescences 
of the maple tree. They wove very neat baskets of 
osier and birch bark. Having no iron, their knives 
consisted of sharp stones, bones or shells. They also 
made mortars and chisels of stone. A cockle shell 
served for a spoon, and a gourd for a water jug. 
Among many tribes the only utensil used for boiling, 
was a piece of hard wood, hollowed out and filled 
with red hot stones, till the process was accomplished. 

Their spears and arrow-heads were made of hard 
stone, and fashioned with great labor. The tomahawk 
was made of a softer kind of rock. The wooden part 
of the arrow was a straight stick cut from an elder- 
bush, or other light wood. The bow-string was made 
of the sinews of deer, or the Indian hemp. The bow 
was usually about six feet in length. The stones 
most used for arrow-heads were quartz and flint, 



216 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

which were preferred on account of the facility of sha- 
ping them, the keenness of the points and edges, 



„. ^ c/^ vii a HECTBDP 




Modern tomahawk. 

which they readily present under the blows of a skil- 
ful manufacturer, as well as their superior hardness 
and imperishable nature. Multitudes of specimens 
still exist, which show the various forms and sizes to 
which the red man reduced stones of these kinds; 
and they excite our admiration, by their perfect state 
of preservation, as well as by the skilfulness of their 
manufacture. 

Other stones, however, were not unfrequently used : 
and a collection will present a considerable variety of 
materials, as well as of sizes, shapes and colors. Hard 
sand-stone, trap, or greywacke, jasper, and chalcedony, 
appear occasionally; some almost transparent. These 
arrow-heads were fastened to the shaft, by inserting 
the butt into the split end, and tying round it a string 
of deer's sinews. A groove or depression is commonly 
observable in the stone, designed to receive the string. 

The Indians knew nothing of navigation, beyond 
the construction and uses of canoes. These were of 
bark, and more frequently of the trunk of some soft- 
wooded tree. The largest would hold fifty men, 
though many smaller ones were used. To aid them 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 217 

in bringing down a tree, fire was applied around the 
trunk, and it was afterwards burnt off at the desired 




Birch-bark boat. 

length. The bark was then stripped off, and the log 
was hollowed out by means of instruments and gentle 
fires. This was all the process necessary to form a 
canoe. Some northern tribes construct their canoes 
of bark, in the same manner as they are made at 
present by the Chippewas and others. 

Wampum was an ornament manufactured from va- 
rious colored shells ; they filed these into bits, and per- 
forated them, giving them the shape of pieces of broken 
pipe-stems ; they strung them on deers' sinews, and 
wore them on their necks, or wove them into belts. 
They were also used to record treaties and other pub- 
lic matters. On the Atlantic coast, wampum was 
highly valued as a species of money, instead of coins, 
of which they had no knowledge. So many strings, 
or so many hands' breadths, were the fixed value of a 
horse, a gun, or a robe. In treaties the wampum 
was passed as a pledge of friendship, and from time 
immemorial it was sent to hostile tribes as a messinger 
of peace. The fur traders at the West have manufac- 
tured an imitation of the Indian wampum, so closely 
resembling it, and it is sold at so low a price, that the 
value and meaning of the original article are destroyed, 
v.— 19 



218 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

and a string of the genuine manufacture is now rarely 
to be found in any part of the country. 

Among the Indians, there were a class of persons 
who professed to have remarkable power in the cure 
of diseases. Most of these were impostors, who per- 
formed certain incantations, serving no other purpose 
than to delude the patients, and enable the quack 
to extort from them an exorbitant fee. They 
were generally persons who held a sort of sacer- 
dotal character, and were called medicine-men. Of 
these, we shall give a more particular account here- 
after. There was another class, who might with pro- 
priety be called doctors, and who really possessed 
considerable knowledge of the medicinal virtues of 
plants. They had antidotes for the bites of venom- 
ous reptiles, and could cure many of the diseases 
common among the savages. In surgery they had 
also no small degree of skill ; their practice, however, 
was often blended with gross quackery, and in most 
cases of serious disease, superstitious juggles constitu- 
ted a great part of the treatment. Frequently a med- 
icine would be prepared with strange incantations, 
and swallowed by the physican in order to cure the 
patient. Mr. Heckewelder tells us that he once saw an 
emetic given to a Delaware who was poisoned, which 
consisted of a piece of burnt raccoon skin, dry pounded 
beans and gunpowder. It may well be believed that 
such a dose procured the vomiting that was desired. 

The juggler who professes to cure diseases which 
spring from witchcraft, having received an ample fee, 
such as a horse, or a rifle, usually commences opera- 
tions by dressing himself in a frightful manner. He 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 219 

then approaches his patienf with a variety of strange 
contortions and grotesque gestures. He breathes on 
him ; blows in his mouth ; squirts medicine in his 
nose and mouth ; rattles beans, or pebbles in a dry 
gourd, and continues to make horrid gesticulations to 
frighten away the disease ; he then leaves the patient 
to await the issue of the experiment. 

There are also jugglers who performed various 
feats of legerdemain. Mr. Flint tells us that " these 
undoubtedly possess a rigidity of muscle, a callousness 
of nerve, and a contempt of pain and wounds, that 
enable them to achieve swallowing fire, putting knives 
and swords down their throats, and such like exploits 
with great success." 

The picture writings that are often found on the 
rocks in various parts of the country, consist of the 
symbolic names of Indians who have visited these 
places. Catlin remarks that from the feeling of vanity 
everywhere belonging to man, has proceeded the habit 
of recording their names or symbols, such as birds, 
beasts, or reptiles, by which every family and each 
individual is known. The paintings on their robes, 
being also a species of hieroglyphic writing, were in 
many cases very curious, and generally represented the 
exploits of their military lives which they are always 
anxious to record. The same system was to some 
extent adopted for more practical purposes. Thatcher 
says that on a piece of bark, or on a large tree, with 
the bark taken off for the purpose, by the side of a 
path, they can, and do give every necessary informa- 
tion to those who travel the same way. They will 
in this manner let them know that they were a war 



220 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

party of so many men, from such a place, of such a 
nation, and of such a tribe ; how many of each tribe 
were in the party ; to which, tribe the chief or captain 
belonged ; in what direction they proceeded to meet 
the enemy ; how many days they were out, and how 
many returning ; what number of the enemy they had 
killed ; how many prisoners they had brought ; how 
many scalps they had taken ; whether they had lost 
any of their party, and how many; what enemies 
they had met with, and how many they consisted of: 
of what nation or tribe their captain was, &c, — all 
which is perfectly well understood by them at a single 
glance. They will describe a chase in the same style. 
All the tribes adopt this practice to some extent; 
and the principle upon which it is founded, is so natural 
and so plain, that the Delawares will read the draw- 
ings of the Chippewas, Shawanees, Wyandots, or Six 
Nations, with nearly as much ease as they decipher 
those of their own tribe. 

Mr. Tanner, who lived some time among the Indi- 
ans, and was adopted by one of the tribes, furnishes 
the following anecdote. He was traversing the woods 
in the early spring, on his way towards Red River, 
when one morning he noticed on the borders of a 
stream, a little stick standing in the bank, and a piece 
of birch bark attached to the top of it. On examina- 
tion, he found the mark of a rattlesnake with a knife, 
the handle touching the snake, and the point sticking 
into a hear vnth a drooping head. Near the snake also 
was the mark of a beaver, with one of its legs touch- 
ing the snake. This had been left for Mr. Tanner's 
information by his foster brother, Wa-no-gou-a-biew J 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



221 



and he gathered from it, that the latter, whose badge 
was a rattlesnake, and whose mother's badge was a 
beaver, had killed a man whose badge was the bear. 
That he was dead and not wounded merely, was indi- 
cated by the position of the head. The event proved 
his suppositions to be entirely correct. 




Indian song. 

Mr. Catlin furnishes us with a copy of an Indian 
song, which was drawn on birch bark, and sung by 
the Chippewas, previous to a hunt. The song is com- 
posed, and the drawing made by a medicine-man, 
or priest, and it is sung by him while the hunters 
dance around, and join in the chorus. The purpose 
of this incantation, is to conciliate the spirits that pre- 
side over the animals, and thus ensure to the hunting 
party a successful expedition. The figures drawn on 
the bark, and which constitute the song, are symboli- 
cal representations of ideas, but are generally under- 
stood only by the jugglers who compose them. 
19* 



222 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



Agriculture. — The cultivation of the Indians was 
scanty and inartificial. They planted corn, squashes, 
beans and pumpkins, which were generally permitted 
to grow to maturity with little or no care, though it is 
said that the New England Indians were better hus- 
bandmen. The chief tools for breaking the soil, were 
shells and bones. In more modern times, the agricul- 
tural arts and implements of the whites have been 
adopted to some extent. 




Indians, disguised as wolves, attacking buffaloes. 

Hunting.— However the Indian may be disposed 
to indolence, in the chase he is roused to the utmost 
activity. He attacks the bear, the deer and various 
other wild animals. In ancient times these were 
killed with the bow and arrow, and also caught in traps. 
Raccoons, partridges, beavers, wild turkies and other 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



223 



game were taken in great numbers. In the rivers, 
salmon and other fish were struck with spears ; they 
also used small nets, and hooks made of fish bones. 

The modes of hunting and fishing at the present 
day, are modified by the introduction of fire-arms, steel 
traps, &c. The hunters pursue the buffalo on horse- 
back, bringing them down either with the bullet, or 
the arrow. They practise various devices to deceive 
these animals, sometimes driving them over a preci- 
pice where they are dashed in pieces ; and sometimes 
stealing upon them dressed in buffalo robes, or the 



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'•> 1 J 5 



St* : ) 



/-'" '^y '""" 



>_> 



! y( 

- ■■■■'<"""«Mii'f/»i/jii)(iimn 




W«\i 



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p 



skins of the prairie wolf. They often set the prairies 
on fire in a circle ; this encloses the deer and other 
game, and as the flames advance, these are driven to- 
gether and shot down in large numbers. The ardor 
of the hunters in the pursuit of game, seems to render 



224 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

them insensible for the time, to everything but the 
immediate object in view. 




War dub. 

War.— A love of war was the predominant passion 
throughout the savage tribes of North America. Their 
martial spirit was kept alive, as well by the necessity of 
defence, as the desire of revenge, and the love of stir- 
ring excitement. When roused from his accustomed 
lethargy, by the war-whoop, the Indian seemed to be 
transformed into another being. His slothful facul- 
ties were at once stimulated to the highest pitch. His 
courage, his sagacity, his ingenuity, were all called into 
requisition, to circumvent and overcome his foe. 

In general it was the custom of the tribes to issue 
a formal declaration of war, and to make it known to 
the adverse party. The setting out of the warriors is 
preceded by various ceremonies. A council is held, 
fastings are observed, and dancing is practised. As 
the party leave the village, they sing their war songs ; 
these usually consist of boastful defiance of the ene- 
my, with a plaintive farewell to friends left behind, 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 225 

and petitions to the Great Spirit to watch over the 
women of the warriors. The following is a specimen 
of a Chippewa war-song : 

Do not — do not weep for me, • 
Loved woman, should I die — 
For yourselves alone should you weep. 
Poor are ye all. and to be pitied. 
Ye women ! ye are to be pitied ! 

I seek. I seek our fallen relations ; 

I go to revenge — revenge the slain ,• 

Our relations, fallen and slain. 

And our foes — our foes, they shall lie, 

Like thern — like them they shall lie. 

I go — I go, to lay them low — to lay them low ! 

Their cautions as they approach the enemy's coun- 
try evince great cunning. A large war party, in or- 
der to deceive the foe. will often walk in one, two, or 
three rows, each man lifting his feet high, so as not 
to bear down the grass — the largest footed man of the 
party walking behind; to cover up the track of the 
alhers. Sometimes they place the hoofs of buffaloes 
or bear's paws on their feet, walking round and round 
the woods and imitating the windings of those ani- 
mals. On arriving near the pJace, or party to be at- 
tacked, the assailants place themselves on each side 
of the path, near enough to each other to hear the 
signal ; this is frequently an imitation of the cry of 
some bird, or beast that inhabits that vicinity, or per- 
haps a whistle. They are wonderful mimics, and 
can imitate, with surprising exactness, the howl of the 
wolf, the neighing of the wild horse, the chipping of 
the squirrel, or the hoot of the owl, 
o 



226 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

When, after all this stratagem, the opposing par- 
ties discover one another, the war cry is sounded, and 
each warrior seeks for some place of concealment, 
from which he may use his deadly weapons. The 
gun, bow and arrow, the javelin, and the tomahawk, 
are all employed, dealing around death and destruc- 
tion. They pursue each other from one ambush to 
another, both parties striving to save their wounded and 
dying from the scalping knife of the foe. The Indian 
seldom comes to a general engagement. He always 
carries on a concealed fight, now lying flat on the 
ground, now firing from behind trees and rocks, and 
now springing away to some different location. They 
continue their desperate warfare till victory declares 
itself, and the defeated party retreat. 




Scalping knife and sheath. 
Scalping, the most important part of an Indian's 
campaign, is thus performed. The victorious party 
seizes the head of his dead or dying foe, and placing 
his foot on the neck, he twists one hand in the lock 
of hair on the top of the head, while, with the other, 
he draws his knife dexterously round in a circle, and 
strips off the skin. This, called the scalp, is after- 
wards dried, and strung upon a hoop or pole, to be 
preserved as a trophy of victory. The number of 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 227 

these is always made known as they approach their 
village, by the scalp yell of the returning warriors. 
It is different from the alarm- whoop, and consists of 
the sounds aw ok, successively uttered, the last note 
being an octave higher, and prolonged into a con- 
tinued cry. The alarm-whoop always betokens dan- 
ger. It is a very rapid utterance of two notes, the 
last being a little higher than the first. Wild animals 
show the greatest terror at the sound of the different 
war-whoops, prancing about in all directions, snorting 
and plunging through the thickets, and over the 
plains. 

There is nothing in the Indian manners more bar- 
barous than their treatment of prisoners. These are 
frequently put to the torture, and made to endure 
every species of suffering that burning, cutting, and 
maiming can inflict. The fortitude with which the 
Indian withstands these trials, seems beyond the 
power of humanity. When bleeding with wounds, or 
encompassed with flames, he will taunt the enemy, 
and boast of the injuries he had inflicted upon them. 
The women and children attend these spectacles and 
seem to share in the horrid joy which they elicit. 
Young warriors are not unfrequently adopted by their 
captors, being taken into some family in place of a 
son who had been lost. White persons have occa- 
sionally been received among the Indians, in a simi- 
lar manner. The Five Nations were accustomed to re- 
ceive conquered tribes as part of the nation, by which 
means their strength and numbers were greatly in- 
creased. 

In assailing the whites, the Indians have always 



228 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

relied much on ambush and surprise. They general- 
ly commence the attack just before day-break, when 
they suppose the enemy to be in the soundest repose. 
They creep forward in silence, winding their way like 
serpents, through woods and thickets, and, at a signal 
from their war chief, start up with horrid yells, and 
pour a cloud of arrows upon the foe. Taking advan- 
tage of the confusion thus produced, they rush for- 
ward with their clubs and tomahawks. 

" The wars of the red men," says Bancroft, " are 
terrible, but not from their numbers ; for on any one 
expedition, they rarely exceeded forty men ; it was the 
parties of six or seven that were most to be dreaded. 
Skill consisted in surprising the enemy. They fol- 
low his trail to kill him when he sleeps ; or they lie in 
ambush near a village, and watch for an opportunity of 
suddenly surprising an individual, or it may be a wo- 
man and her children ; and with three strokes to each, 
the scalps of the victims being suddenly taken off, the 
brave flies back with his companions, to hang the tro- 
phies in his cabin, to go from village to village, in ex- 
ulting procession, to hear orators recount his deeds to 
the elders and the chief people, and by the number of 
scalps taken by his own hand, to gain the high war 
titles of honor. Nay, war parties of but two or three 
were not uncommon. Clad in skins, with a supply of 
red paint, a bow and quiver of arrows, they would 
roam through the wide forests as a bark would over 
the ocean ; for days and weeks they would hang on 
the skirts of their enemy, waiting the moment for 
striking a blow. From the heart of the Five Nations, 
two young warriors would thread the wilderness of 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



229 



the south ; would go through the glades of Pennsylva- 
nia, the valleys of Western Virginia, and steal within 
the mountain fastnesses of the Cherokees. There 
they would hide themselves in the clefts of the rocks, 
and change their place of concealment, till, provided 
with scalps enough to astonish their village, they 
would bound over the ledges and hurry home. It 
was the danger of such inroads that, in time of war, 
made every English family on the frontier insecure." 
When a party of warriors had returned victorious, 
celebrations followed, in which dancing, feasting, and 
the torture of the captive, held a conspicuous part. The 
scalp-dance among the Sioux is performed at night 




Scalp dance. 

by the light of torches, and is continued for fifteen 
successive nights. In these, as in other exhibitions, 
v.— 20 



230 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



the warriors are exceedingly boastful of their exploits, 
while they brandish their weapons, and represent in 
pantomime, their deeds in battle. A number of young 
women are placed in the centre of the ring to hold up 
the scalps, while the warriors dance around in a circle, 
all the time flourishing their war-clubs, jumping and 
barking and yelping in a most frightful manner. It 
would seem to the spectator, that they were actually 
hewing each other in pieces. " During these frantic 
leaps and thrusts," says Catlin, " every man distorts 
his face to the umost, darting about his glaring eye- 
balls, and snapping his teeth, as if he were in the heat 
of battle ! No description, that can be written, could 
ever convey more than a feeble outline of the fright- 
ful effect of these scenes, enacted in the dead and dark- 
ness of night, under the glaring light of their dazzling 
flambeaus ; nor could all the years allotted to mortal 
man, in the least obliterate or deface, the vivid im- 
press that one scene of this kind would leave upon 
his memory." 




The large pipe called the calumet, or pipe of peace, 
was used to express a pledge of faith between the parties 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 231 

who joined in smoking it. At a grave council of 
statesmen, it was solemnly smoked, a whiff or two 
being taken by one and then by another, as a ratifica- 
tion of the peace between the parties concerned. When 
a party of strangers come to an Indian village, the 
pipe is brought and filled with tobacco and lighted. It 
is first smoked by the chief man of the place, and then 
handed to the chief of the strangers. If he receives 
it, and smokes in return, it is regarded as significant 
of amity. If he refuses the pipe, it is a token of hos- 
tility. The practice of smoking was general among 
the ancient Indians, and it continues to this day. The 
calumet is now, as formerly, the emblem of peace. 
The head or bowl was made of stone, and finely 
polished. The stem was two and a half feet long, 
made of reed or cane, and adorned with feathers of 
various brilliant colors, interlaced with locks of female 
hair. 

Government. — The Indian tribes were not only 
without written law, but without a formal code ex- 
pressed in language. Liberty was the great passion 
of the savage, and he hated nothing so much as re- 
straint. Whatever government there was, was that 
of usage and opinion. There was no commerce, no 
coin, no promissary notes, no persons employed on hire, 
and in short, no contracts. Exchanges were but a 
reciprocity of gifts. Prisons, lawyers, and sheriffs, 
were unknown ; each man was therefore his own pro- 
secutor. In case of death by violence, it was deemed 
the duty of the kindred to seek retaliation. " They 
would go," says Adair, " a thousand miles for the pur- 
pose of revenge ; over hills and mountains ; through 



232 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



large caves and swamps, full of grape-vines and bri- 
ers ; over broad lakes, rapid rivers, and deep creeks, 
and all the time endangered by poisonous snakes, ex- 
posed to the extremities of heat and cold, to hunger and 
thirst." This necessity of retaliation often involved 
families, and even whole tribes in strife for a series of 
years. 

The tribe was but a union of families, and in gen- 
eral, the head of the family was the chief. The 
succession depended on birth, and was inherited 
through the female line. This rule of descent, how- 
ever, was often modified, and sometimes disregarded. 
A chief was occasionally forced to surrender his au- 
thority, and sometimes an individual became the ruler, 
through the gradual influence of opinion, without any 
formal act of election, or even any avowed recognition 
of his authority. The Indian chief had no symbols 
of supremacy, and no guard to enforce his decrees. 
His power depended upon his personal character, and 
his authority existed only in the current of opinion 
around him. 

There have been chiefs who seem to rule with des- 
potic sway, while others are possessed of little autho- 
rity. No measures were ever undertaken but with 
the assent of the people. They held frequent coun- 
cils for deliberation, in which the eloquent and brave 
acquired an ascendancy. They seem to delight in as- 
sembling together, and listening to messengers from 
abroad. " Seated in semicircles on the ground, in 
double or triple rows, with the knees almost meeting 
the face — the painted and tattooed chiefs, adorned 
with skins and plumes, with the beaks of the red-bird, 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 233 

or the claws of the bear ; each listener perhaps with a 
pipe in his mouth, and preserving deep silence,- — they 
would give solemn attention to the speaker, who, with 
great action and energy of language, delivered his mes- 
sage ; and if his eloquence pleased, they esteemed him 
as a god. Decorum was never broken ; there were 
never two speakers struggling to anticipate each other ; 
they did not express their spleen by blows ; they re- 
strained passionate invective ; the debate was never dis- 
turbed by anuproar ; questions of order were unknown." 
" After all," says Flint, " that which has struck us, 
in contemplating the Indians, with the most astonish- 
ment and admiration, is the invisible, but universal 
energy of the operation and influence of an inexplica- 
ble law, which has, when it operates, a more certain 
and controlling power, than all the municipal and writ- 
ten laws of the whites united. There is despotic rule 
without any hereditary or elected chief. There are 
chiefs with great power, who cannot tell when, or how 
they became such. There is perfect unanimity in 
a question involving the existence of a tribe, where 
every member belonged to the wild and fierce demo- 
cracy of nature, and could dissent without giving a 
reason. A case occurs, where it is prescribed by cus- 
tom, that an individual should be punished by death. 
Escaped far from the control of his tribe, and as free 
as the winds, this invisible tie is about him ; and he 
returns and surrenders himself to justice. His ac- 
counts are not settled and he is in debt ; he requests 
delay till he shall have accomplished his summer's 
hunt. He finishes it, pays his debt, and dies w^'th a 
constancy which has always been, in all views of the 
Indian character, the theme of admiration." 
20* 



234 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

The chiefs of the southern tribes were more abso- 
lute in their authority than those of the northern. 
Powhatan, who was the ruler over thirty confederated 
tribes in Virginia, had somewhat the state and bearing 
of a monarch. He had four places of residence, at 
each of which, he had a house made of poles and bush- 
es, about a hundred feet in length. He had many wives 
and numerous attendants, and a body guard of forty 
of his stoutest warriors. His summer residence, called 
Orapakes, was fifty yards in length, — -some of his 
wives generally attended him. When he lay down, 
one sat at his feet and another at his head. When 
he dined or supped, one of them, both before and 
after the meal, brought him a wooden platter full of 
water to wash his hands ; and a second a bunch of 
feathers to serve the purpose of a towel, which, after 
being used, were dried to be used again. When he 
was weary of these women, he gave them away to 
his best warriors. / 

Amusements.— The ancient Indians appear to have 
had few amusements separate from war and the chase, 
and the rites and ceremonies connected with religion. 
The greater part of their time was spent either in in- 
dolent repose, like that of wild animals when gorged 
with food, or in the stormy excitement of religion, hunt- 
ing and war. They have numerous dances, most of 
which were in some way connected with religious ob- 
servances. These are preserved till the present day, 
and seem to afford a large share of the recreation of 
the people. These vary in different tribes, but most 
of them have war dances, in which the various feats 
of the campaign are represented in pantomime, — the 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 236 

scalp dance, the war dance, dog dance, &c. In these 
the aged council chiefs beat the drums, and the young 
warriors dance with great vehemence, beating the 
ground with their feet. They pursue the business 
with a vigor, which causes the perspiration to pour 
from their bodies. Each dance has its particular 
tune, which is very monotonous, consisting only of 
three or four notes. 

Smoking tobacco in long pipes has ever been a fa- 
vorite recreation among the Indians, and in early 
times occupied the place of exciting beverages. 
They have various modes of gambling, to which they 
are greatly addicted. When engaged in play, the 
man of sluggish temperament and concealed emotions, 
becomes* roused almost to a pitch of madness. Indi- 
ans have been known to stake their whole property 
upon the hazard of a die. 

The " game of the moccasin " is thus performed. 
Four moccasins are used, and a little bit of cloth or 
stick being put into one of these, one of the parties 
guesses which it is. If he guesses right, his opponent 
loses eight, if not, the guesser loses eight. Any num- 
ber of persons can join in the game. Another diver- 
sion is that of " Bug-ga-sauk" which is played in a 
wooden bowl, with dice made of pieces of an old ket- 
tle, which are kept bright on one side, and stained 
with some color on the other. 

Religion.— It has been imagined by some writers, 
that a portion of the Indians are without religious no- 
tions, but as a whole, they seem to have been among 
the most religious people in the world. " Wherever 
there was being, motion, or action, there to the red 



236 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



man was a spirit, — and in a special manner, wherever 
there appeared singular excellence among beasts or 
birds, or in the creation, there to him was the pres- 
ence of a divinity. When he feels his pulse throb, 
he knows that it is a spirit. A god resides in the 
flint, to give forth the kindling, cheering fire ; in the 
mountain cliff; in the cool recesses of the grottoes 
which nature has adorned ; in each ' little grass ' that 
springs miraculously from the earth. The woods, 
the wilds and the waters, respond to savage intelli- 
gence ; the stars and the mountains live ; the river 
and the lake, and the waves have a spirit. Every 
hidden agency, every mysterious influence is personi- 
fied, — a god dwells in the sun and in the moon, and 
in the firmament ; the spirit of the morning reddens 
in the eastern sky; a deity is present in the ocean, and 
in the fire ; the crag that overhangs the river, has its 
genius, there is a spirit to the waterfall; household 
god makes its abode in the Indian's wigwam, and con- 
sequently his home ; spirits climb upon the forehead 
to weigh down the eyelids in sleep. Not the heavenly 
bodies only, but the sky is filled with spirits that minis- 
ter to man. To the savage, divinity, broken, as it 
were, into an infinite number of fragments, fills all 
place and all being." 

In the midst of all this diversity, there seems to 
have been an idea of a Supreme Being, or Manitou 3 
the creator of the world, to whom different names 
were given, — as the Great Spirit, or Master of Life. 
Their priests also taught them that there is a ma- 
lignant spirit, and as he is deemed very powerful, 
he is the object of a large portion of their rites and 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 237 

ceremonies. They appear to worship animals, — -as 
the buffalo and bear. But it seems that it is the in- 
visible spirit, or type of the animals, to which their 
adoration is paid. The modes and objects of their 
worship seem to be almost innumerable. Their su- 
perstition is without bounds. All that is wonderful, 
or past comprehension is attributed by them to the 
supernatural agency of spirits. The notions of the 
Indian in respect to creation are much diversified. 
Some traces of the deluge appear in their traditions. 
Many tribes believed that their ancestors existed 
within the bosom of the earth, either in human shape, 
or in the form of the rabbit, the tortoise, or the wood- 
chuck, and hence the reverence paid to these animals. 
Some of the Delawares imagined that they lived un- 
der a lake, till one of them, luckily, found a hole, by 
which they all crept out. The Mandans, also, had a 
tradition, that they lived in a cavity of the earth, until 
one of their young men climbed up to the surface by 
means of a vine. Being pleased with what he saw, 
he returned and told his friends of the upper world. 
They were delighted with the intelligence, and a rush 
immediately commenced to clamber up the vine. 
Several succeeded in reaching the surface, but unhap- 
pily, a very fat old woman gave the vine such a wrench 
in ascending, that she fell to the ground, and thus inter- 
rupted all further means of escape. Those on the 
surface established a Mandan village, while those in the 
bowels of the earth, continue there to the present day. 
Among the religious ceremonies of the Indians, dan- 
ces hold a conspicuous place. Mr. Catlin describes 
one of these which took place at the return of the sea- 



238 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



son of green corn, and the dance was designed as a 
thanksgiving to the Great Spirit for his beneficence 
in bestowing upon them such a luxury. The day- 
being appointed by the medicine -men, the villagers 
are all assembled, and in the midst of the pomp, a 
kettle is hung over the fire, and filled with the green 
corn, which is well boiled to be given to the Great 
Spirit, as a sacrifice necessary to be made before any 
one can indulge the cravings of his appetite. Whilst 
their first kettle full is boiling, four medicine-men 
with a stalk of corn in one hand and a rattle in the 
other, — their bodies painted with white clay, dance 




round the kettle, chanting a song of thanksgiving to 
the Great Spirit, to whom the offering is to be made. 
At the same time, a number of warriors are dancing 
around in a more extended circle, with stalks of corn 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 239 

in their hands, and joining also in the song of thanks- 
giving, whilst the villagers are all assembled and 
looking on. During this scene, there is an arrange- 
ment of wooden bowls laid upon the ground, in which 
the feast is to be dealt out, each one having in it a 
spoon, made of buffalo or mountain sheep's horn. 
In this wise the dance continues until the doctors 
decide that the corn is sufficiently boiled. After a 
few other juggles, the ceremony is considered com- 
plete, and permission is given to commence the 
feast From this time a scene of license generally 
follows till the fields are exhausted, or the ears have 
become too hard for use. 

Though the modes of burial were various, yet the 
Indians universally agreed in paying particular at- 
tention of some kind to the manes and memory of the 
dead. If slain in battle, every exertion was made to 
carry off their bodies, to be properly buried, as well 
as to save them from being scalped. The dead body 
was frequently interred in a sitting posture. The 
Chippewas have a custom of building a fire over 
the grave for several nights succeeding interment. 
The Mandans placed their dead bodies on slight scaf- 
folds, just above the reach of human hands, and out 
of the way of wolves and dogs, and there they were 
left to decay. The skulls were afterwards collected 
and arranged in a circle around two medicine poles. 
They had several cemeteries at a little distance from 
their village, where hundreds of bodies were to be seen 
reposing in this manner. It was the custom of the 
friends here to visit the remains of the departed, and 
fathers, mothers, wives and children might be often 



240 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



seen beneath the scaffolds, bewailing in the most pite- 
ous manner the decease of their kindred. Sometimes 
they tore their hair, rolled upon the ground, and lacer- 
ated their flesh with knives, to appease and put to rest 




the spirits of the departed. Nor were these places visit- 
ed only for penance. The women often resorted hither 
to hold converse with the dead, and not unfrequently, 
the mother might be seen with her needle-work by 
the skull of her child, and chatting to the ghastly 
relic, as if it were the living offspring. 

The Indians believed in the immortality of the sou±, 
but this was rather a continuance of life than a resur- 
rection. His faith was like that of a child, which still 
believes its mother alive, though buried in the tomb. 
In the new state of existence, they believed that they 
should enjoy, without abatement, the pleasures of this 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 241 

life : that they would roam through delightful forests, 
stocked with game, and that, ever attended by atten- 
tive squaws, they should feast on the buffalo and the 
deer. The delights of their Elysium they supposed 
to be enhanced by having attained distinction in this 
world as hunters and warriors : the chief that num- 
bered many scalps was supposed to be entitled to the 
highest state of bliss. 

Their simple confiding faith led them to cherish the 
memory and remains of the departed. They buried 
the warrior with his pipe, his tomahawk, his quiver 
and the bow bent for action, and his most splendid 
apparel. They placed by his side the bowl of maize 
and the haunch of venison, to feed him in the long 
journey to the land of spirits. The mother would 
bury, by the tomb of her infant, its cradle, its beads, 
and its rattles ; and even draw milk from her bosom 
and bum it in the fire, that the passing flame might 
bear nourishment to the child in the realms of the 
departed. 

' ; Of all the nations of the earth," says Chateau- 
briand, i{ the Indians discover the greatest veneration 
for their dead. In national calamities the first thing 
they think of is to save the treasures of the tomb. 
They recognize no legal property, but where the 
remains of ancestors have been interred. When the 
Indians have pleaded their right of possession, they 
have always employed this argument, which in their 
opinion is irrefragable — ; Shall we say to the bones 
of our fathers. Rise, and follow us to a strange land ? ' 
Finding this plea disregarded, they carried with them 
the bones which could not follow, 
P v.— 21 



242 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

" The motives of this attachment to sacred relics may 
easily be discovered. Civilized nations have monu- 
ments of literature and the arts for the memorials of 
their country. They have cities, palaces, towns, col- 
umns, obelisks ; they have the furrows of the plough, 
the fields cultivated by them ; their names are en- 
graven in brass and marble ; their actions are recorded 
in their chronicles. The savages have none of these 
things. Their names are not inscribed on the trees 
of their forests. Their huts, built in a few hours, 
perish in a few moments. Their traditional songs 
are vanishing with the last memory which retains 
them, with the last voice which repeats them. For 
the tribes of the New World there is therefore but a 
single monument — the grave. Take from the savages 
the bones of their fathers, and you take from their his- 
tory, their laws, and their very gods." 

The offerings of the Indians to their deities were 
made either by the chiefs, or by individuals on their 
own account. The belief in sorcery was universal, 
and their medicine-men, who united the character of 
prophet and priest, were supposed to exercise dominion 
over nature and the unseen world. They professed to 
command the elements, to call water from above, be- 
neath, or around, to foretell the drought, and direct the 
lightning. By their spells they could give success to 
the hunter's arrow, and the fisherman's net. They 
could soften the heart of a maid towards her lover, 
endow the warrior with power to win victory, and 
compel disease to depart from its victim. These 
powers were accorded to the prophets by universal 
assent, and the crafty priests were not slow to take 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 243 

advantage of the credulity of the people around. 
They often practised the grossest imposition, and 
often the character of the medicine-man was blended 
with that of the juggler. 




A Medicine-man. 

The confidence of the Indians in dreams was im- 
plicit. These were imagined to open the avenues of 
futurity, and enabled the soul to tread the paths of the 
invisible world. Instances have been known in which 
individuals have sacrificed their lives to what were 
deemed religious visions. Mr. Schoolcraft^ furnishes 

# See " Oneota, No. 1," a work which promises to be of much 
value in collecting and disseminating knowledge respecting the 
Indians. 



244 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

us with the following legend of the Ottawas, which 
illustrates this point of Indian faith : 

" A long time ago, there lived an aged Odjibwa and 
his wife, on the shores of Lake Huron. They had an 
only son, a very beautiful boy, whose name was O-na- 
wut-a-qut-o, or he that catches the clouds. The family 
were of the totem of the beaver. The parents were 
very proud of him, and thought to make him a cele- 
brated man, but when he reached the proper age, he 
would not submit to the AYe-koon-de-win, or fast. 
When this time arrived, they gave him charcoal, 
instead of his breakfast, but he would not blacken his 
face. If they denied him food, he would seek for 
birds' eggs along the shore, or pick up the heads of 
fish that had been cast away, and broil them. One 
day, they took away violently the food he had thus 
prepared, and cast him some coals in place of it. This 
act brought him to a decision. He took the coals and 
blackened his face, and went out of the lodge. He 
did not return, but slept without; and during the 
night, he had a dream. He dreamed that he saw a 
very beautiful female come down from the clouds and 
stand by his side. l Q-no-wut-a-qut-o,' said she, * I 
am come for you — step in my tracks.' The young 
man did so, and presently felt himself ascending 
above the tops of the trees — he mounted up, step by 
step, into the air, and through the clouds. His guide, 
at length, passed through an orifice, and he, following 
her, found himself standing on a beautiful plain. 

" A path led to a splendid lodge. He followed her 
into it. It was large, and divided into two parts. On 
one end he saw bows and arrows, clubs and spears. 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 245 

and various warlike implements tipped with silver. 
On the other end, were things exclusively belonging 
to females. This was the home of his fair guide, and 
he saw that she had, on the frame, a broad rich belt, 
of many colors, which she was weaving. She said 
to him : ' My brother is coming and I must hide you.' 
Putting him in one corner, she spread the belt over 
him. Presently the brother came in, very richly 
dressed, and shining as if he had had points of silver 
all over him. He took down from the wall a splendid 
pipe, together with his sack of a-pa-ko-ze-gun, or 
smoking mixture. When he had finished regaling 
himself in this way, and laid his pipe aside, he said to 
his sister : ' Nemissa,' (which is, my eldest sister,) 
i when will you quit these practices ? Do you forget 
that the Greatest of the Spirits has commanded that 
you should not take away the children from below ? 
Perhaps you suppose that you have concealed O-na- 
wut-a-qut-o, but do I not know of his coming? If 
you would not offend me, send him back immediately.' 
But this address did not alter her purpose. She would 
not send him back. Finding that she was purposed 
in her mind, he then spoke to the young lad, and 
called him from his hiding place. < Come out of your 
concealment,' said he, ' and walk about and amuse 
yourself. You will grow hungry if you remain 
there.' He then presented him a bow and arrows, 
and a pipe of red stone, richly ornamented. This was 
taken as the word of consent to his marriage ; so the 
two were considered husband and wife from that time. 
" O-no-wut-a-qut-o found everything exceedingly fair 
and beautiful around him, but he found no inhabitants 
21* 



246 , INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

except her brother. There were flowers on the plains. 
There were bright and sparkling streams. There 
were green valleys and pleasant trees. There were 
gay birds and beautiful animals, but they were not 
such as he had been accustomed to see. There was 
also day and night, as on the earth ; but he observed 
that every morning the brother regularly left the 
lodge, and remained absent all day ; and every even- 
ing the sister departed, though it was commonly but 
for a part of the night. 

" His curiosity was aroused to solve this mystery. 
He obtained the brother's consent to accompany him 
in one of his daily journeys. They travelled over a 
smooth plain, without boundaries, until O-no-wut-a- 
qut-o. felt the gnawings of appetite, and asked his 
companion if there were no game. * Patience ! my 
brother,' said he, ' we shall soon reach the spot where 
I eat my dinner, and you will then see how I am pro- 
vided.' After walking on a long time, they came to 
a place w T hich was spread over with fine mats, where 
they sat down to refresh themselves. There was, at 
this place, a hole through the sky ; and O-no-wut-a- 
qut-o looked down, at the bidding of his companion, 
upon the earth. He saw below the great lakes, and 
the villages of the Indians. In one place he saw a 
war party stealing on the camp of their enemies. In 
another, he saw feasting and dancing. On a green 
plain, young men were engaged at ball. Along a 
stream, women were employed in gathering the 
a-puk-wa for mats. 

" ' Do you see,' said the brother, * that group of chil- 
dren playing beside a lodge. Observe that beautiful 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 247 

and active boy,' said he, at the same time darting 
something at him, from his hand. The child imme- 
diately fell, and was carried into the lodge. 

" They looked again, and saw the people gathering 
about the lodge. They heard the she-she-gwan of 
the meeta, and the song he sung, asking that the 
child's life might be spared. To this request, the 
companion of O-no-wut-a-qut-o made answer—' send 
me up the sacrifice of a white dog.' Immediately a 
feast was ordered by the parents of the child, the 
white dog was killed, his carcass was roasted, and all 
the wise men and medicine-men of the village assem- 
bled to witness the ceremony. ' There are many be- 
low,' continued the voice of the brother, ' whom you 
call great in medical skill, but it is because their ears 
are open, and they listen to my voice, that they are 
able to succeed. When I have struck one with sick- 
ness, they direct the people to look to me : and when 
they send me the offering I ask, I remove my hand 
from off them, and they are well.' After he had said 
this, they saw the sacrifice parcelled out in dishes, for 
those who were at the feast. The master of the feast 
then said, ' we send this to thee, Great Manito,' and 
immediately the roasted animal came up. Thus their 
dinner was supplied, and after they had eaten, they 
returned to the lodge by another way. 

"After this manner they lived for some time ; but the 
place became wearisome at last. O-no-wut-a-qut-o 
thought of his friends, and wished to go back to them. 
He had not forgotten his native village, and his father's 
lodge ; and he asked leave of his wife to return. At 
length she consented. ' Since you are better pleased/ 



248 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

she replied, ' with the cares, and the ills, and the pov- 
erty of the world, than with the peaceful delights of 
the sky, and its boundless prairies, go ! I give you 
permission ; and since I have brought you hither, I ' 
will conduct you back ; but remember, you are still 
my husband ; I hold a chain in my hand by which I 
can draw you back, whenever I will. My power over 
you is not, in any manner, diminished. Beware, 
therefore, how you venture to take a wife among the 
people below. Should you ever do so, it is then that 
you shall feel the force of my displeasure.' 

"As she said this, her eyes sparkled — she raised 
herself slightly on her toes, and stretched herself up, 
with a majestic air ; and at that moment, O-no-wut-a- 
qut-o awoke from his dream. He found himself on 
the ground, near his father's lodge, at the very spot 
where he had laid himself down to fast. Instead of 
the bright beings of a higher world, he found himself 
surrounded by his parents and relatives. His mother 
told him he had been absent a year. The change 
was so great that he remained for some time moody 
and abstracted, but by degrees he recovered his spirits. 
He began to doubt the reality of all he had heard and 
seen above. At last, he forgot the admonitions of his 
spouse, and married a beautiful young woman of his 
own tribe ; but within four days, she was a corpse. 
Even the fearful admonition was lost, and he repeated 
the offence by a second marriage. Soon afterwards, 
he went out of the lodge one night, but never returned. 
It was believed that his wife had recalled him to the 
region of the clouds, where, the tradition asserts, he 
still dwells, and walks on the daily rounds which he 
once witnessed." 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 249 

Oratory. — The oratory of the Indians has been the 
frequent theme of admiration. Eloquence with them 
was a native talent, and being held in great esteem, 
was cultivated as a means of gaining favor and influ- 
ence with the tribes. The great orator was second 
only to the great warrior. The speeches of Poatiac, 
Tecumseh, and Red Jacket would sometimes merit 
praise, even if they had fallen from the lips of civilized 
statesmen. Self-appreciation is the characteristic of 
barbarous man, and boasting was not deemed offensive 
in the Indian orator. When Eed Jacket was called 
upon to make an address at the launching of a schooner 
at Black Rock, bearing his name, he spoke as follows, 
directing his words to the vessel : 

"You have had a great name given to you ; strive 
to deserve it. Be brave and daring. Go boldly into 
the great lakes, and fear neither the swift winds, nor 
the strong waves. Be not frightened nor overcome 
by them ; for it is by resisting storms and tempests 
that I. whose name you bear, obtained my renown. 
L: * my great example inspire you with courage, and 
lead you to glory." 

A speech of the same individual is preserved, which 
shows a remarkable power of sarcasm, with great fe- 
licity of illustration. Red Jacket was averse to the 
introduction of the Christian religion among his tribes. 
He had an especial hostility to missionaries, whom he 
called " black-coats." Being once asked the reason 
why he opposed the operations of these men, he said, 
" Because they do us no good. If they are not useful 
to the white people, why do they send them among 
the Indians ? If they are useful to the white people, 



250 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

why do they not keep them at home ? They are surely 
bad enough to need the labor of every one who can 
make them better. These men know we do not un- 
derstand their religion. We cannot read their book. 
They tell us different stories about what it contains, 
and we believe they make the book talk to suit them- 
selves. If we had no money, no land, and no country 
to be cheated out of, these black coats would not trouble 
themselves about our good hereafter. 

" The Great Spirit will not punish us for what we 
do not know. He will do justice to his red children. 
These black coats talk to the Great Spirit, and ask for 
light, that we may see as they do, when they are blind 
themselves, and quarrel about the light which guides 
them. These things we do not understand, and the 
light they give us makes the straight and plain path 
trod by our fathers, dark and dreary. The black coats 
tell us to work and raise corn ; they do nothing them- 
selves, and would starve to death if somebody did not 
feed them. All they do is to pray to the Great Spirit, 
but that will not make corn or potatoes grow ; if it will, 
why do they beg from us and the white people ? 

" The red men knew nothing of trouble till it came 
from the white men ; as soon as they crossed the great 
waters, they wanted our country, and in return have 
always been ready to teach us to quarrel about their 
religion. Red Jacket can never be a friend of such 
men. The Indians can never be civilized — they are 
not like white men. If they were raised among the 
white people, and learned to work and to read as they 
do, it would make their situations worse. They 
would be treated no better than ^egroes. We are few 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 251 

and weak, but may for a long time "be happy if we 
hold fast to our country and the religion of our 
fathers." 

Story-telling, Poetry, &c. As the Indians had no 
books, their literature was entirely traditional. It con- 
sisted of the history of the tribes, legends of their gods, 
superstitious tales and marvels, fables and fragments 
of lyrical poetry. The traditionary tales occupy the 
place of books. Mr. Schoolcraft gives us the follow- 
ing description of a scene that may often be witnessed 
in the wigwam : 

" An old Indian enters, enfeebled by years, and no 
longer able to join the warriors and hunters, now per- 
haps absent on some dangerous enterprise. He pos- 
sesses a memory retentive of the traditions of the tribe, 
and probably an imagination quick at invention or em- 
bellishment. As a necessary qualification, he is one 
of the few well acquainted with his native language. 
He loves to repeat his tales, and the children dearly 
love to listen. In the many waste hours of savage 
life, the mother often realizes the inconvenience of 
having to provide occupation for unemployed minds ; 
and the story-teller is welcomed by her for the relief 
he brings. 

" The old man, seated on the ground, and surrounded 
by an attentive circle, begins his tale ; and as the in- 
terest rises, and the narrative requires it, he now 
changes his tone to imitate different speakers, varies 
his countenance and attitudes, or moves across the 
lodge to personate the characters he describes. The 
mother, without disturbance, places the kettle on the 
fire, and quietly prepares some savory dish to regale 
the old wanderer at the close of his labors. 



252 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

" Thus, as by the minstrels, bards and troubadours 
of former days, and as by the Turkish story-tellers at 
the present time, the Indians hand down their tradi- 
tions of different kinds from generation to generation. 
The two succeeding tales are connected with their re- 
ligious systems, and were evidently forged for the 
purpose of teaching the duty of subserviency to the 
priests. They bear striking resemblances to certain 
mythological tales of other nations, ancient and mod- 
ern, which may occur to some of our readers, but which 
we cannot at present point out." 

The following is a tale related by an Ottawa, and 
affords a good specimen of the religious fables of the 
savages : 

" There was once a very beautiful young girl, who 
died suddenly on the day she was to have been mar- 
ried to a handsome young man. He was also brave, 
but his heart was not proof against this loss. From 
the hour she was buried, there was no more joy or 
peace for him. He went often to visit the spot where 
the women had buried her, and sat musing there, when 
it was thought, by some of his friends, he would have 
done better to try to amuse himself in the chase, or by 
diverting his thoughts in the war-path. But war and 
hunting had both lost their charms for him. His heart 
was already dead within him. He pushed aside both 
his war-club and his bow and arrows. 

" He had heard the old people say that there w T as a 
path that led to the land of souls, and he determined 
to follow it. He accordingly set out, one morning, 
after having completed his preparations for the jour- 
ney. At first he hardly knew which way to go. He 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 253 

was only guided by the tradition that he must go 
south. For a while he could see no change in the 
face of the country. Forests, and hills, and valleys, 
and streams had the same looks which they wore in 
his native place. There was snow on the ground 
when he set out, and it was sometimes seen to be 
piled and matted on the thick trees and bushes. At 
length, it began to diminish, and finally disappeared. 
The forest assumed a more cheerful appearance, the 
leaves put forth their buds, and before he was aware 
of the completeness of the change, he found himself 
surrounded by spring. He had left behind him the 
land of snow and ice. The air became mild, the dark 
clouds of winter had rolled away from the sky ; a pure 
field of blue was above him, and as he went he saw 
flowers beside his path, and heard the songs of birds. 
By these signs he knew that he was going the right 
way, for they agreed with the traditions of his tribe. 
At length he spied a path. It led him through a 
grove, then up a long and elevated ridge, on the very 
top of which he came to a lodge. At the door stood 
an old man, with white hair, whose eyes, though 
deeply sunk, had a fiery brilliancy. He had a long 
robe of skins thrown loosely around his shoulders, 
and a staff in his hands. 

" The young Chippewayan began to tell his story ; 
but the venerable chief arrested him, before he had 
proceeded to speak ten words. ' I have expected 
you,' he replied, ' and had just risen to bid you wel- 
come to my abode. She, whom you seek, passed 
here but a few days since, and being fatigued with 
her journey, rested herself here. Enter my lodge 
v.— 22 



254 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

and be seated, and I will then satisfy your inquiries, 
and give you directions for your journey from this 
point.' Having done this, they both issued forth to 
the lodge door. ' You see yonder gulf,' said he, ' and 
the wide stretching blue plains beyond. It is the land 
of souls. You stand upon its borders, and my lodge 
is the gate of entrance. But you cannot take your 
body along. Leave it here with your bow and arrows, 
your bundle and your dog. You will find them safe 
on your return.' 

" So saying, he reentered the lodge, and the freed 
traveller bounded forward, as if his feet had suddenly 
been endowed with the power of wings. But all 
things retained their natural colors and shapes. The 
woods, and leaves, and streams, and lakes, were only 
more bright and comely than any he had ever wit- 
nessed. Animals bounded across his path, with a 
freedom and a confidence which seemed to tell him, 
there was no blood shed here. Birds of beautiful 
plumage inhabited the groves, and sported in the wa- 
ters. There was but one thing in which he saw a 
very unusual effect. He noticed that his passage was 
not stopped by trees or other objects. He appeared 
to walk directly through them. They were, in fact, 
but the souls or shadows of material trees. He be- 
came sensible that he was in a land of shadows. 
When he had travelled half a day's journey, through 
a country which was continually becoming more at- 
tractive, he came to the banks of a broad lake, in the 
centre of which was a large and beautiful island. He 
found a canoe of shining white stone, tied to the shore. 
He was now sure that he had come the right path, for 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 255 

the aged man had told him of this. There were also 
shining paddles. 

" He immediately entered the canoe, and took the 
paddles in his hands, when, to his joy and surprise, 
on turning round, he beheld the object of his search 
in another canoe, exactly its counterpart in every- 
thing. She had exactly imitated his motions, and 
they were side by side. They at once pushed out 
from shore and began to cross the lake. Its waves 
seemed to be rising, and at a distance looked ready to 
swallow them up ; but just as they entered the whi- 
tened edge of them they seemed to melt away, as if 
they were but the images of waves. But no sooner 
was one wreath of foam passed, than another, more 
threatening still, rose up. Thus they were in perpet- 
ual fear; and what added to it, was the clearness of 
the water, through which they could see heaps of be- 
ings who had perished before, and whose bones lay 
strewed on the bottom of the lake. The Master of 
Life had, however, decreed to let them pass; for the 
actions of neither of them had been bad. But they 
saw many others struggling and sinking in the waves. 
Old men and young men, males and females, of all ages 
and ranks, were there ; some passed, and some sank. 
It was only the little children whose canoes seemed to 
meet no waves. 

" At length, every difficulty was gone, as in a mo- 
ment, and they both leaped out on the happy island. 
They felt that the very air was food. It strengthened 
and nourished them. They wandered together over 
the blissful fields, where everything was formed to 
please the eye and the ear. There were no tempests 



256 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

— there was no ice, no chilly winds- — no one shivered 
for the want of warm clothes : no one suffered from 
hunger — no one mourned for the dead. They saw 
no graves. They heard of no wars. There was no 
hunting of animals ; for the air itself was their food. 
Gladly would the young warrior have remained there 
forever, but he was obliged to go back for his body. 
He did not see the Master of Life, but he heard his 
voice in a soft breeze. ' Go back,' said this voice, ' to 
the land from whence you came. Your time has not 
yet come. The duties for which I made you, and 
which you are to perform, are not yet finished. Re- 
turn to your people, and accomplish the duties of a 
good man. You will be the ruler of your tribe for 
many days. The rules you must observe will be told 
you by my messenger, who keeps the gate. When 
he surrenders back your body, he will tell you what 
to do. Listen to him, and you shall afterwards rejoin 
the spirit, which you must now leave behind. She is 
accepted and will be ever here, as young and as happy 
as she was when I first called her from the land of 
snows.' When this voice ceased, the narrator awoke. 
It was the fancy work of a dream, and he was still in 
the bitter land of snows, and hunger, and tears." 

The following is a specimen of an Odjibwa fable : 
and may compare with the same class of fictions, 
among civilized nations : 

" A lynx, almost famished, met a hare one day in 
the woods, in the winter season, but the hare was sep- 
arated from its enemy by a rock, upon which it stood. 
The lynx began to speak to it in a very kind manner. 
4 Wabose ! Wabose ! ' said he, ' come here, my little 



INDIANS OF N03TH AMER.CA. 257 

white one, I wish to talk to you.' ' Oh no,' said the 
hare, ' I am afraid of you, and my mother told me 
never to go and talk with strangers.' ' You are very 
pretty,' replied the lynx, ' and a very obedient child to 
your parents ; but you must know that I am a relative 
of yours ; I wish to send some word to your lodge ; 
come down and see me,' The hare was pleased to be 
called pretty, and when she heard that it was a rela- 
tive, she jumped down from the place where she stood, 
and immediately the lynx pounced upon her and tore 
her to pieces." 

" Common as the Indian songs are," says School- 
craft, "it is found to be no ordinary acquisition to ob- 
tain accurate specimens of them. Even after the diffi- 
culties of the notation have been accomplished, it is 
not easy to satisfy the requisitions of a correct taste 
and judgment, in their exhibition. There is always 
a lingering fear of misapprehension, or misconception, 
on the part of the interpreter — -or of some things being 
withheld by the never-sleeping suspicion, or the su- 
perstitious fear of disclosure, on the part of the Indian. 
To these must be added, the idiomatic and imaginative 
peculiarities of this species of wild composition — so 
very different from every notion of English versifica- 
tion. 

" In the first place there is no unity of theme, or plot, 
unless it be that the subject, war, for instance, is kept 
in the singer's mind. In the next place both the nar- 
ration and the description, when introduced, is very 
imperfect, broken, or disjointed. Prominent ideas 
flash out, and are dropped. These are often most 
striking and beautiful, but we wait in vain for any 
Q 22* 



258 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

sequence. A brief allusion — a shining symbol, a burst 
of feeling or passion, a fine sentiment, or a bold asser- 
tion, come in as so many independent parts, and there 
is but little in the composition to indicate the leading 
theme, which is, as it were, kept in mental reserve by 
the singer. Popular, or favorite expressions are often 
repeated, often transposed, and often exhibited with 
some new shade of meaning. 

"The structure and flexibility of the language is 
highly favorable to this kind of wild improvisation. 
But it is difficult to translate, and next to impossible to 
preserve its spirit. Two languages more unlike, in 
all their leading characteristics, than the English and 
the Indian, were never brought into contact. The 
one monosyllabic, and nearly without inflections — the 
other polysyllabic, polysynthetic, and so full of inflec- 
tions of every imaginative kind, as to be completely 
transpositive — the one from the north of Europe, the 
other, probably, from Central Asia — it would seem that 
these families of the human race had not wandered 
wider apart, in their location, than they have in the 
sounds of their language, the accidence of their gram- 
mar, and the definition of their words. So that, to 
find equivalent single words in translation, appears 
often as hopeless as the quadrature of the circle. 

"The great store-house of Indian imagery is the 
heavens. The clouds, the planets, the sun and 
moon, the phenomena of lightning, thunder, elec- 
tricity, aerial sounds, electric or atmospheric, and the 
endless variety produced in the heavens by light and 
shade, and by elemental action , — these constitute the 
fruitful themes of allusion in their songs and poetic 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 259 

chants. But they are mere allusions, or broken de- 
scriptions, like touches on the canvass, without being 
united to produce a perfect object. The strokes may 
be those of a master, and the coloring exquisite ; but 
without the art to draw, or the skill to connect, it will 
still remain but a shapeless mass. 

" In war excursions great attention is paid to the 
flight of birds, particularly those of the carnivorous 
species, which are deemed typical of war and bravery, 
and their wing and tail feathers are appropriated as 
marks of honor, by the successful warrior. When the 
minds of a war party have been roused up to the sub- 
ject, and they are prepared to give utterance to their 
feelings by singing and dancing, they are naturally 
led to appeal to the agency of this class of birds. 
Hence the frequent allusions to them, in their songs. 
The following stanza is made up of expressions 
brought into connection, from different fragments, but 
expresses no more than the native sentiments : 

The eagles scream on high, 

They whet their forked beaks, 
Raise — raise the battle cry, 

'T is fame our leader seeks. 

" Generally the expressions are of an exalted and 
poetic character, but the remarks before made of their 
efforts in song, being discontinuous and abrupt, apply 
with peculiar force to the war songs. To speak of a 
brave man— of a battle — -or the scene of a battle, or of 
the hovering of birds of prey above it, appears suf- 
ficient to bring up to the warrior's mind, all the details 
consequent on personal bravery or heroic achievement. 
It would naturally be expected, that they should de- 



260 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

light to dwell on scenes of carnage and blood : but 
however this may be, all such details are omitted or 
suppressed in their war songs, which only excite ideas 
of noble daring. 

The birds of the brave take a flight round the sky, 

They cross the enemy's line, 
Full happy am I— that my body should fall, 

Where brave men love to die. 

" Very little effort in the collocation and expansion 
of some of their sentiments, would impart to these bold 
and unfettered rhapsodies, an attractive form, among 
polished war songs. 

" The strain in which these measures are sung, is 
generally slow and grave in its commencement and 
progress, and terminates in the highest note. While 
the words admit of change, and are marked by all the 
fluctuation of extempore composition, the air and the 
chorus appear to be permanent, consisting not only of 
a graduated succession of fixed sounds, but always 
exact in their enunciation, their quantity, and their 
wild and startling musical expression. 

" Ehyme is permitted by the similarity of the sounds 
from which the vocabulary is formed, but the structure 
of the language does not appear to admit of its being 
successfully developed in this manner. Its forms are 
too cumbrous for regularly recurring expressions, sub- 
jected at once to the laws of metre and rhyme. The 
instances of rhyme that have been observed in the na- 
tive songs are few, and appear to be the result of the 
fortuitous positions of w r ords, rather than art. 

" In the translation of hymns, made during the mod- 
ern period of missionary effort, there has been no 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 261 

general attempt to secure rhyme ; and as these trans- 
lations are generally due to educated natives, under 
the inspection and with the critical aid of the mission- 
ary, they have evinced a true conception of the genius 
of language, by the omission of this accident. Eliot, 
who translated the Psalms of David into the Mas- 
sachusetts language, which were first printed in 1661, 
appears to have deemed it important enough to aim at 
its attainment : but an examination of the work, now 
before us, gives but little encouragement to others to 
follow his example, at least while the languages re- 
main in their present rude and uncultivated state. 
The following is the XXIIId Psalm from this version * 

1. Mar teag nukquenaabikoo 

shepse nanaauk God. 
Nussepsinwahik ashkoshqut 
nuttinuk ohtopagod 

2. Nagum nukketeahog kounoh 

wutomohkinuh wonk 
Nutuss oounuk ut sampoi may 
newutch oowesnonk. 

3. Wutonkauhtamut pomushaon 

muppcconk oonauhkoe 
Woskehettuonk mo nukqueh tamoo 
newutch koowetomah : 

4. Kuppogkomunk kutanwokon 

nish noonenehiquog 
Koonochcc hkah anquabhettit 
wame nummatwomog 

5. Kussussequnum nuppuhkuk 

weetepummee nashpea 
Wonk woi God nootallamwaitch 
pomponetuphos hau 



262 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

6. QDniyeuonk monaneteonk 
nutasukkonkqunash 
Tohsohke pomantam wekit God 
michem nuttain pish.* 

** This appears to have been rendered from the ver- 
sion of the Psalms appended to an old edition of King 
James' Bible of 1611, and not from the versification 
of Watts. By comparing it with this, as exhibited 
below, there will be found the same metre, eights and 
sixes, the same syllabical quantity, and the same 
coincidence of rhyme at the second and fourth lines 
of each verse ; although it required an additional verse 
to express the entire psalm. It could therefore be 
sung to the ordinary tunes in use in Eliot's time, and, 
taken in connection with his entire version, including 
the Old and New Testament, evinces a degree of pa- 
tient assiduity on the part of that eminent missionary, 
which is truly astonishing : 

The Lord is my shepherd, I '11 not want ; 

2. He makes me down to lie 
In pastures green : he leadeth me 

the quiet waters by. 

3. My soul he doth restore again 

and me to walk doth make 
Within the paths of righteousness 
E'en for his own name's sake. 

4. Yea, though I walk in death's dark vala 

yet will I fear none ill ; 
For thou art with me and thy rod 
and staff me comfort still. 

# Eliot employed the figure 8, set horizontally, to express a 
peculiar sound : otherwise he used the English alphabet in its 
ordinary powers. 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 263 

5. My table thou hast furnished 

in presence of my foes ; 
My head thou dost with oil anoint, 
and my cup overflows. 

6. Goodness and mercy all my life 

shall surely follow me ; 
And in God's house forevermore 
my dwelling place shall be. 

Mr. Schoolcraft furnishes us also with the following 
pleasing passage. — " In the hot summer evenings, 
the children of the Chippewa Algonquins, along the 
shores of the upper lakes, and in the northern lati- 
tudes, frequently assemble before their parents' lodges, 
and amuse themselves by little chants of various 
kinds, with shouts and wild dancing. Attracted by 
such shouts of merriment and gambols, I walked out 
one evening, to a green lawn skirting the edge of the 
St. Mary's river, with the fall in full view, to get hold 
of the meaning of some of these chants. The air and 
the plain were literally sparkling with the phosphor- 
escent light of the fire-fly. By dint of attention, re- 
peated on one or two occasions, the following succes- 
sion of words was caught. They were addressed to 
this insect : 

"VVau wau tay see ! 

Wan wau tay see ! 

E mow e shin 

Tshe bwau ne baun-e wee ! 

Be eghaun — be eghaun — ewee! 

Wa wau tay see ! 

Wa wau tay see ! 

"Was sa koon ain je gun 

Was sa koon ain je gun. 



264 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

" The literal translation is as follows : — ' Flitting- 
white-nre-insect ! waving- white-fire-bug ! give me 
Yght before I go to bed ! give me light before I go to 
sleep. Come, little dancing- white-fire-bug ! Come 
little flitting-white-fire-beast ! Light me with your 
bright white-name-instrument — your little candle.' 
Metre there was none, at least, of a regular character i 
they were the wild improvisations of children in a 
merry mood. The following will serve as a free 
translation : 

Fire-fly, fire-fly ! bright little thing, 

Light me to bed, and my song I will sing. 

Give me your light, as you fly o'er my head, 

That I may merrily go to my bed. 

Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep, 

That I may joyfully go to my sleep 

Come little fire-fly — come little beast 

Come ! and I '11 make you to-morrow a feast. 

Came little candle that flies as I sing, 

Bright little fairy-bug — night's little king ; 

Come, and I '11 dance as you guide me along, 

Come, and I '11 pay you, my bug, with a song." 

Languages. — Nothing, in respect to the aborigines 
of America, has excited more wonder and curiosity, 
than their languages. Balbi, who has summed up the 
labors of his predecessors with great industry, states, 
that among the 10,000,000 Indians of the whole conti- 
nent, there are 43S languages, and 2000 dialects ! 
Yet, in the midst of this prodigious diversity, so re- 
markable an analogy of structure has been found to 
pervade them all, that Mr. Duponceau has classed them 
under one genus. ) 

Among the savages of our portion of the continent, 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 265 

each tribe had its dialect ; but many dialeets have uni- 
formly been found referable to one parent stock. Thus, 
the Algonquin language appears at one time to have 
been spoken over a greater part of the continent, north 
of the Potomac, and east of the Mississippi. The Knis- 
teneaux or Crees, Micmacs, Chippewas or Odjibwas, 
Ottawas, Potawatomies, the Sacs and Foxes or Ottoga- 
mies, the Shawanese, the Kickapoos, the Menomonies, 
the Miamis, the Delawares or Lenni Lenapes and other 
tribes, now extinct, spoke Algonquin dialects, and are 
therefore classed as belonging to the Algonquin family. 

The Wyandot or Huron family included the con- 
federacy called the Iroquois, or Six Nations, com- 
prising the Mohawks, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, 
Onondagas and Tuscaroras, and the Wyandots. The 
Southern, Floridian, or Mobilian family, comprised 
the Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Choctaws. 
The Uchees and Natchez tribes were blended with the 
former. The Seminoles were but runaways from 
these other tribes. The Sioux, or Dahcotah family 
included the Winnebagos, Dahcotahs, Hohays, or As- 
sineboins, Omahaws, Mandans, Kanzas, Osages, Io- 
ways, Otoes, Missouris, Quapaws, Mahas, Puncahs, 
&c. The Paionee family included the Pawnees, Arra- 
pahoes, Camanches, &c. The Columbian family in- 
cluded the Flatheads, Shoshonees, Eshelotes. &c. 

It might seem in vain to attempt to account for the 
phenomena presented by the American languages ; 
their origin appears to be as inscrutable as that of the 
people to whom they belong. Mr. Bancroft considers 
them as indigenous to the country, and the " offspring 
of the instinctive powers of man." The following ex- 
v— 23 



266 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

tracts will convey an idea of his theory, with the 
grounds upon which it rests ; as well as of some 
important inferences deduced from his doctrine on 
the subject : 

" The study of the structure of the dialects of the 
red men, sheds light on the inquiry into their condi- 
tion. Language is their oldest monument, and the 
record and image of their experience. No savage 
horde has been caught with it in a state of chaos, or as 
if just emerging from the rudeness of indistinguishable 
sounds. No American language bears marks of being 
an arbitrary aggregation of separate parts ; but each 
is possessed of an entire organization, having unity of 
character, and controlled by exact rules. Each ap- 
pears, not as a slow formation by painful processes of 
invention, but as a perfect whole, springing directly 
from the powers of man. A savage physiognomy is 
imprinted on the dialect of the dweller in the wilder- 
ness ; but each dialect is still not only free from con- 
fusion, but is almost absolutely free from irregulari- 
ties, and is pervaded and governed by undeviating 
laws. 

" As the bee builds his cell regularly, yet without the 
recognition of the rules of geometry, so the unreflect- 
ing savage, in the use of words, had rule, and method 
and completeness. His speech, like everything else, 
underwent change ; but human pride errs in believing 
that the art of cultivated man was needed to resolve it 
into its elements, and give to it new forms, before it 
could fulfil its office. Each American language was 
competent of itself, without improvement from scholar- 
ship, to exemplify every rule of the logician, and give 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 267 

utterance to every passion. Each dialect that has 
been analyzed has been found to be rich in derivatives 
and compounds, in combinations and forms. As cer- 
tain as every plant which draws juices from the earth 
has root and sap vessels, bark and leaves, so certainly 
each language has its complete organization — includ- 
ing the same parts of speech, though some of them 
may be concealed in mutual coalitions. Human con- 
sciousness and human speech exist every where, in- 
dissolubly united. A tribe has no more been found 
without an organized language, than without eyesight 
or memory. 

" From these investigations, two momentous con- 
clusions follow. The grammatical forms which con- 
stitute the organization of language, are not the work 
of civilization, but of nature. It is not writers, nor ar- 
bitrary conventions, that give laws to language : the 
forms of grammar ; the power of combinations, the 
possibility of inversions, spring from within us, and 
are a consequence of our own organization. If lan- 
guage is a human invention, it was the invention of 
savage man ; and this creation of barbarism would be 
a higher trophy to human power than any achieve- 
ment of civilization. The study of these rudest dia- 
lects tends to prove, if it does not conclusively prove, 
that it was not man who made language, but He who 
made man gave him utterance. 5 ' 

" Another and a more certain conclusion is this — 
that the ancestors of our tribes were rude like them- 
selves. It has been asked if our Indians were not the 
wrecks of more civilized nations. Their language 
refutes the hypothesis ; every one of its forms is a 



268 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

witness that their ancestors were, like themselves, not 
yet disenthralled from nature. The character of each 
Indian language is one continued, universal, all-per- 
vading synthesis. Those to whom these languages 
were the mother-tongue were still in that earliest age 
of intellectual culture, where reflection has not begun." 
It seems, therefore, that Mr. Bancroft's view is, that 
organized language springs from the instincts of sav- 
age man, and this theory is offered as affording a so- 
lution of the remarkable fact, that among nearly 500 
various languages broken into 2000 dialects, there is 
a general aspect of uniformity. " From the country 
of the Esquimaux to the Strait of Magellan," says 
Humboldt, " mother-tongues, entirely different in their 
roots, have, if we may use the expression, the same 
physiognomy." It would seem an equally rational 
exposition of this phenomenon to suppose that all the 
Indian tribes descended from one family, from which 
they derived their language, and that this in the course 
of centuries has been broken into the multitudinous 
dialects which now exist. If we suppose the indivi- 
dual tribes, or the heads of them, amounting to seve- 
ral hundreds, to have made their languages independ- 
ently of each other, it is indeed an astonishing cir- 
cumstance that they should all bear the family resem- 
blance which Humboldt notices. The supposition 
seems, indeed, to imply an instinct in man, like that 
of the bee in framing its cells, which guides them, in 
all lands, to adopt precisely the same form and the 
same angle ; and if such an instinct exists, why are 
not the languages of all countries alike, or at least so 
far alike as to possess " the same physiognomy ?" If it 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 269 

be said that Mr. Bancroft's remarks are to be applied 
only to the great American family, we then ask how 
languages so radically different as the Celtic and 
Teutonic, should come from nearly the same regions 
in Asia. These suggestions seem to present a for- 
midable objection to Mr. Bancroft's theory, and though 
his opinion is entitled to great respect, we must still 
deem the origin of the language of the American 
tribes as an open question. 

Endowments of the Indians. — " Hath not a Jew 
eyes ? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions* 
senses, affections, passions ? fed with the same food, 
hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same dis- 
eases, healed by the same means, w T armed and cooled 
by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is ? 
If you prick us, do we not bleed ? If you tickle us, 
do we not laugh ? If you poison us, do we not die ? 
and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge ? If we 
are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. 
If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility ? 
revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should 
his sufferance be by Christian example? why, revenge. 
The villany you teach me, I will execute ; and it shall 
go hard, but I will better the instruction." 

Thus, according to Shakspeare, a Jew is a man. In 
a similar vein Mr. Bancroft says, " The natives of 
America were men and women of like endowments 
with their more cultivated conquerors ; they have 
the same affections and the same powers ; are 
chilled with an ague, or burn with a fever. We may 
call them savage, just as we call fruits wild ; natural 
right governs them. They revere unseen powers; 
23* 



270 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

they respect the nuptial ties ; they are careful of their 
dead ; their religion, their marriages and their burials, 
show them possessed of the habits of humanity and 
bound by a federative compact to the race. They had 
the moral faculty which can recognize the distinction 
between right and wrong. 

" There is not a quality belonging to the white man, 
which did not also belong to the American savage ; 
there is not among the aborigines a rule of language, 
a custom or an institution, which, when considered in 
its principle, has not a counterpart among their con- 
querors. The unity of the human race is established 
by the exact correspondence between their respective 
powers ; the Indian has not one more, has not one 
less than the white man ; the map of the faculties is 
for. both identical." 

But while it is admitted that the several races of 
men possess the same faculties in kind, they are en- 
joyed in very different degrees. The red man may 
be said, in general, to possess imitative, rather than in- 
ventive faculties. His observation is quick and pene- 
trating. In the sagacity of the senses, he rivals, if 
not surpasses, the white man, and his judgment acting 
upon these is sound. But in abstraction- — in rising 
above experience, and grouping together a mass of 
materials for the deduction of general truth, of prin- 
ciples, he holds a secondary rank. In his powers of 
reasoning, and perhaps in moral qualities, he is infe- 
rior to his white brother. It is said that they have a 
difficulty in comprehending numbers, and some of the 
tribes are said to be greatly perplexed in carrying 
their ideas beyond a hundred. Mr. Flint tells us, 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 271 

that when a question turns upon a point that involves 
great numbers, they generally avail themselves of the 
English word, heap. " They are characterized," 
says Mr. Bancroft, " by a moral inflexibility, a rigidity 
of attachment to their hereditary customs and man- 
ners. The birds and the bees as they chime forth 
their unwearied canticles, chime them ever to the same 
ancient melodies, and the Indian child, as it grows up, 
displays a propensity to the habits of its ancestors. 
His determinateness of moral character is marked also 
in the organization of the American savage. He has 
little flexibility of features, or transparency of skin ; 
and therefore, if he depicts his passions, it is by strong 
contortions, or the kindling of the eye, that seems 
ready to burst from its socket. He cannot blush ; 
the movement of his blood does not visibly represent 
the movement of his affections ; for him, the domain 
of animated beauty is circumscribed ; he cannot paint 
to the eye the emotions of moral sensibility." 

Such, according to high authorites, are some of the 
physical characteristics, — the native endowments, of 
the American savages ; — and the imperfect success of 
the puritan Eliot, Brainard and Mayhew ; of the Mo- 
ravian Loskiel ; the German Hecke welder ; the Jesuit 
Casheil and others, in attempting to christianize and 
civilize them, has led to a desponding view of their 
capacity for civilization. If, however, we were to 
take the delineations furnished by Julius Caesar of the 
early Britons, we could hardly make out a higher in- 
tellectual and moral estimate than is here furnished 
of the Indians. The ancient Celts, as well as the 
mass of the modern Irish, are often depicted as pos- 



272 INDIANS OF NOKTH AMERICA* 

sessing qualities peculiarly adverse to the diffusion of 
knowledge and refinement among them. Yet, of this 
stock we reckon Swift) Burke, Grattan and Goldsmith, 
among the dead, and among the living, Wellington, 
Moore and O'Gonnel. We are not disposed, therefore, 
to receive these disparaging estimates of Indian char- 
acter, as excluding hopes of their redemption from sav- 
age life. The race has produced a Caupolican, a Lan- 
taro, a Logan, Pontiac and Red Jacket,— ornaments of 
humanity in savage life,— and examples of brilliant suc- 
cess at the bar, and in the church, have been furnished. 

But while we maintain the capacity of the Indians 
for civilization, we must admit that their present con- 
dition is one of the deepest degradation. They have 
now lived for centuries in contact with the whites, 
imbibing their vices and withering beneath the scorn 
and hatred of a master race. The following dark 
picture is drawn with equal truth and force. 

" As a race, they have countenances, that are gen- 
erally unjoyous, stern and ruminating. It is with 
them, either gloomy taciturnity, or bacchanalian revel. 
When you hear Indians laughing, you may generally 
infer that they are intoxicated. An Indian seldom 
jests, generally speaks low, and under his breath ; lo- 
quacity is w r ith him an indication of being a trifling 
personage, and of deeds inversely less, as his words 
are more. Even the young men and boys have a sul- 
len, moody and thoughtful countenance, and seem to 
have little of that elastic gaiety, with which the be- 
nevolence of providence has endowed the first days of 
the existence of most other beings. From this general 
remark, we ought, perhaps, to except the squaw, who 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 273 

shows some analogy of nature to the white female. — 
She has quicker sensibilities, is more easily excited ; 
and when out of the sight of her husband or her pa- 
rents, to whom these things are matters of espionage, 
and often reprehension, she laughs and converses, 
and seems conscious of a pleasurable existence. 

" The males evidently have not the quick sensibilities, 
the acute perceptions of most other races. They do 
not easily or readily sympathize with external nature. 
None but an overwhelming excitement can arouse 
them. They seem callous to all the passions but rage. 
We have seen fathers in their cabins caressing their 
children ; but even their caressing was of their cus- 
tomary moody and stern character, and as if they were 
ashamed to do it. They are apparently a sullen, 
melancholy and musing race, who appear to have 
whatever they have of emotion or excitement, on or- 
dinary occasions, going on in the inner man. Every 
one has remarked how little surprise they express for 
whatever is new, striking, or strange. Their contin- 
ual converse with woods, rocks, and sterile deserts, 
with the roar of winds and storms, and the solitude 
and gloom of the wilderness ; their apparent exile 
from social nature, their alternation of satiety and 
hunger, their continual exposure to danger ; their un- 
certain existence ; their constant struggle with nature 
to maintain it ; the little hold which their affections 
seem to have upon life ; the wild, savage and hostile 
nature that incessantly surrounds them; — these cir- 
cumstances seem to have impressed a steady and un- 
alterable gloom upon their countenances. If there be, 
here and there among them, a young man, who feels 
s 



274 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

the freshness and vivacity of youthful existence, and 
shows anything of the gaiety and volatility of other 
animals under such circumstances, though otherwise 
born to distinction, he is denounced as a trifling thing; 
and the silent, sullen young savages will naturally take 
the place of him. They seem to have been born with a 
distinctive determination to be, as much as possible, 
independent of nature and society, and to concentrate, 
as much as possible, within themselves an existence, 
which, at any moment, they seem willing to lay down. 

" Their impassable fortitude and endurance of suffer- 
ing, their contempt of pain and death, invest their 
character with a kind of moral grandeur. It is to be 
doubted, whether some part of this vaunted stoicism, 
be not the result of a more than ordinary degree of 
physical insensibility. It has been said, with how 
much truth we know not, that in amputations, and 
other surgical operations, their nerves do not shrink, 
or show the same tendency to spasm, with those of 
the whites. When the savage, to explain his insensi- 
bility to cold, called upon the white man to recollect 
how little his own face was affected by it, in conse- 
quence of constant exposure, the savage added l my 
body is all face.' This increasing insensibility, trans- 
mitted from generation to generation, finally becomes 
inwrought with the whole web of animal nature, and 
the body of the savage at last approximates the insen- 
sibility of the hoofs of horses. Considering the 
necessary condition of savage existence, this tempera- 
ment is the highest boon of providence. 

" Of course, no ordinary stimulus excites them to 
action. Few of the common motives, excitements or 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 275 

endearments, operate upon them at all. Most of the 
things that move us, they either do not feel, or hold 
in proud disdain. The horrors of their dreadful war- 
fare ; the infernal rage of their battles ; the demoniac 
fury of gratified revenge ; the alternations of hope and 
despair in their gambling, to which they are addicted, 
even beyond the whites; the brutal exhilaration of 
drunkenness ; — these are their pleasurable excitements. 
These are the things that awaken them to a strong 
and joyous consciousness of existence. When these 
excitements arouse the imprisoned energies of their 
long and sullen meditations, it is like iEolus un- 
caging the whirlwinds. The tomahawk flies with 
unpitying and unsparing sway, and the writhing of 
their victims inspires a horrible joy, Let the benevo- 
lent make every exertion to ameliorate their character 
and condition. Let Christianity arouse every effort 
to convey her pity, mercy, and immortal hopes to 
their rugged bosoms. But surely, it is preposterous 
to admire the savage character in the abstract. Let 
us never undervalue the comfort and security of mu- 
nicipal and civilized life ; nor the sensibilities, chari- 
ties and endowments of our own homes. The happi- 
ness of savages, steeled against sympathy and feeling, 
at war with nature, with the elements, and with each 
other, can have no existence, except in the visionary 
dreaming of those, who never contemplated their ac- 
tual condition." 

Antiquities. — The antiquities of the North Ameri- 
can Indians, may be divided into two classes, — the 
ornaments, rude inscriptions and paintings, arrow- 
heads, pipes, stone vessels and weapons, &e.> all of 



276 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

which resemble those still in use by the existing 
tribes, and which are, of course, referable to the pres- 
ent race. They are evidently the work of mere sav- 
ages, yet they give indications of that mechanical 
talent, which is a trait of nearly the whole Indian 
family. With the exception of the Esquimaux, whom 
we have not included in our sketch, there are no indi- 
cations of architectural or military structures, evincing 
much art, which appear to be the work of the present 
tribes, or their immediate ancestors. Numerous tu- 
muli, or mounds, sometimes of earth, and sometimes 
mere heaps of stones, covering human bones, and 
hence known to be burial places, are found throughout 
the western country ; some of these are supposed to 
be the work of modern tribes, while others are of more 
ancient date. 

Having already noticed the antiquities of Mexico 
and Central America, the former referable to the Az- 
tecs, and the latter to their predecessors, the Toltecs, 
we have now only to give a brief account of those re- 
mains of past -generations to be found in the United 
States. 

The first class of these vestiges, consists of articles 
of mechanical skill, found in ancient graves, mounds 
and walls. Among them are many curious specimens 
of pottery. On the banks of the Ohio, has been found 
a pitcher of clay, very nicely modelled, in the shape 
of a bottle-gourd, the neck being formed in imitation 
of a woman's, with clubbed hair. At Nashville, 
twenty feet below the earth, a vessel was discovered 
with a flat bottom, and standing upwards, the top, or 
mouth, having the shape of a female head, covered 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 277 

with a cap, and the ears extending to the chin. Near 
an ancient rock on the Cumberland river, a vessel has 
been found, the top of which represents three heads, 
joined together at the back by a hollow stem. The 
heads represent three different countenances, two 
young and the other old. The faces are partly painted 
with red and yellow, the colors still preserving great 
brilliancy. The features are distinguished by thick 
lips, high cheek bones, the absence of a beard, and the 
pointed shape of the head. 

An idol discovered in a tumulus at Nashville pre- 
sents the figure of a man without arms, and the nose 
and chin mutilated. Colored medals, representing 
the sun with its rays, and idols of other forms, with 
arms, containing calcined human bones, (some of very 
elegant models,) have been found. Many of the an- 
cient vessels of earthen ware were of great size ; one, 
discovered eighty feet below the surface, was of a ca- 
pacity to hold ten gallons, and others still larger have 
been met with. In a mound lately opened at Lancas- 
ter, Ohio, a vessel composed of clay and broken shells, 
measuring eighteen feet in length and six in width, 
has been discovered. 

* " These articles of pottery vary much in their struc- 
ture. The material is either simply clay — that sub- 
stance united with pulverized sandstone or calcareous 
matter — or a composition as well calculated as our 
chemical vessels to encounter a high degree of heat, 
and formed upon scientific principles. Some of them 
appear to have been painted before burning, are skil- 

* For our view of the Antiquities of the United States, we 
are indebted to the excellent treatise, entitled " American An 
tiquities," &c. ; by Alexander W. Bradford. 

v.— 24 



278 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

fully wrought and polished, well glazed and burned, 
and are inferior to our own manufactures in no re- 
spect. There exist other specimens, of ancient origin, 
corroborating this view of the chemical knowledge of 
their authors. At Hamburg, in the State of New York, 
within an urn in the interior of a mound, curious beads 
have been found deposited, consisting of transparent 
green glass, covered with an opaque red enamel, be- 
neath which and in the tube of the bead was a beauti- 
ful white enamel, indicative of great art in its forma- 
tion. On opening an old grave at Big River, in the 
state of Missouri, whose antiquity was sufficiently at- 
tested by a heavy growth of forest trees over the spot, 
beads of similar shape, appearance and composition 
have also been brought to light. 

"The bricks discovered in the mounds appear to have 
been formed after the modern method, and are well 
burnt ; those found in the ancient fortifications are of 
similar construction and appearance, with the excep- 
tion of possessing a lighter color. 

" The art of working in stone, and other hard sub- 
stances, was carried to a considerable degree of per- 
fection by this people ; and beads of bone and shell, 
carved bones, and hewn and sculptured stones are by 
no means rare. Their weapons and implements were 
often formed from the oldest and hardest of rocks ; 
and arrow-heads, axes, and hatchets of granite, and 
hornblende, nicely cut and polished, are of frequent 
occurrence. The covers of some of the urns are com- 
posed of calcareous breccia, skilfully wrought; the 
pieces of stone worn as ornaments, and found interred 
with the dead, have been drilled and worked into pre- 
cise shapes, and the pipe-bowls are adorned with beau- 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 279 

tifully carved reliefs. An idol of stone, representing 
the human features, has been found at Natchez, the 
sculptured head and beak of a rapacious bird in a 
mound at Cincinnati, and an owl carved in stone at 
Columbus, Ohio. The most singular of these sculp- 
tures has been discovered on the banks of the Missis- 
sippi, near St. Louis. This is a tabular mass of lime- 
stone bearing the impression of two human feet. The 
rock is a compact limestone of grayish-blue color, con- 
taining the encrinite, echinite, and other fossils. The 
feet are quite flattened, but the muscular marks are 
delineated with great precision. Immediately before 
the feet lies a scroll, sculptured in a similar style. 

"The opinion sometimes entertained, that these are 
actual impressions of the human feet, made upon a 
soft substance subsequently indurated, is incorrect ; on 
the contrary, they are undoubtedly the result of art, 
and exhibit an extraordinary analogy with similar ap- 
pearances in Asia and in Central America. 

"Ancient inscriptions upon rocks have also been ob- 
served. Dr. Barton examined some, on a large stra- 
tum of rock upon the east shore of the Ohio, about 
fifty miles below Pittsburg, and found them in great 
numbers, and apparently ' the work of a people ac- 
quainted with the use of iron instruments, or with 
hardened metallic instruments of some kind.' Upon 
one of the branches of the Tennessee river are perpen- 
dicular rocks, on which, more than one hundred feet 
above the present high-water mark, are representa- 
tions of beasts, birds, and other figures. 

" Near the confluence of the Elk and Kanhawa riv- 
ers, in the western part of Virginia, Bishop Madison 



280 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

observed some remarkable remains of sculpture. 
Upon the surface of a rock of freestone lying on the 
margin of the river, about twelve feet in length and 
nine in breadth, he saw the outlines of several figures, 
cut without relief, except in one instance, and some- 
what larger than the life. The depth of the outline 
was about half an inch, and its width three quarters, 
nearly, in some places. ' In one line, ascending from 
the part of the rock nearest the river, there is a tor- 
toise ; a spread eagle executed with great expression, 
particularly the head, to which is given a shallow re- 
lief; and a child, the outline of which is very well 
drawn. In a parallel line there are other figures, but 
among them that of a woman only can be traced: 
these are very indistinct. Upon the side of the rock 
there are two awkward figures which particularly 
caught my attention. One is that of a man, with his 
arms uplifted and hands spread out, as if engaged in 
prayer. His head is made to terminate in a point, 
or rather he has the appearance of something upon 
the head, of a triangular or conical form : near to him 
is another singular figure, suspended by a cord fastened 
to his heels.' 'A turkey, badly executed, with a few 
other figures, may also be seen. The labor and the 
perseverance requisite to cut those rude figures in a 
rock, so hard that steel appeared to make but little 
impression upon it, must have been great, much more 
so than making of enclosures in a loose and fertile soil.' 
" Many metallic remains have also been discovered 
among the ancient ruins, some quite perfect, and oth- 
ers in a state of decomposition. Copper appears to 
have been in the most general use. It has been 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 281 

found in the mounds, either in irregular masses or 
worked into various forms, and sometimes plated with 
silver. Arrow-heads, bracelets, circular plates or 
medals, beads, a cross, and pipe-bowls, all composed 
of this metal, have been disinterred from the tumuli. 

" One of the ancient mounds at Marietta, Ohio, was 
situated on the margin of a stream, which had gradu- 
ally washed away the surrounding soil and part of the 
structure itself, when a silver cup was observed in the 
side of the mound. Its form was extremely simple, 
and resembled some of the earthenware patterns, be- 
ing an inverted cone. It consisted of solid silver, its 
surfaces were smooth and regular, and its interior was 
finely gilded. 

" Circumstances favor the idea, that the authors of 
the western antiquities were in the habit of working 
many of the salt springs, for the manufacture of that 
article. At the state salt-works in Illinois occurs a 
large excavation, four hundred feet in circumference, 
in which a deep well has formerly been sunk. In 
digging at this place, ashes, and fragments of pottery 
were discovered in great abundance ; and a drain has 
been found, so connected with the works as to justify 
the inference of its being intended to carry away the 
surplus water. The earthenware found here is at vast 
depths below the surface, and it resembles in compo- 
sition the specimens occurring in the ancient mounds. 
At Harrisonville, in St. Clair county, and near the 
Ohio saline, the presence of broken pottery and other 
appearances authorize similar conclusions ; particu- 
larly the shape of the vessels, which may very well 
have served as evaporators. 
24* 



282 INDIANS OP NORTH AMERICA. 

" The antiquities discovered in the western caves are 
of a remarkable character) and have excited much 
speculation. They cannot be ascribed to the present 
tribes of Indians, in consequence of the very general 
reverence in which caverns are held by them. They 
view them with deeply superstitious feelings, esteem- 
ing them as the residence of the Great Spirit, and 
never appearing there for any other purpose than for 
the occasional celebration of solemn religious festivals. 
In the saltpetre caves of Gasconade county, Missouri, 
axes, hammers, and other implements have been found, 
which are probably of identical origin with some an- 
cient works in the vicinity. Below the falls of St. 
Anthony is another cavern, distinguished for its great 
length, and called, in the Indian language, * The 
dwelling of the Great Spirit.' The walls are com- 
posed of a soft stone, easily yielding to the knife, and 
they contain many hieroglyphical figures, so covered 
with moss and defaced by time as to be traced with 
great difficulty. 

"Within the saltpetre cave in Warren county, Ten- 
nessee, two bodies have been discovered, interred in a 
sitting posture in baskets made of cane, the hip joints 
dislocated, and the legs brought up close to the body. 
One of them was a male and the other a female. 
Great care had manifestly been taken to secure them 
a durable preservation, and at the period of discovery 
the flesh, teeth, hair, and nails were still entire. They 
were enveloped in dressed deer-skins, and in a species 
of cloth, of firm texture, woven from the fibres of the 
nettle, or from bark, and overlaid with the most bril- 
liant feathers of various hues, symmetrically arranged ; 



INDIANS OP NORTH AMERICA. 283 

another covering, of undressed deer-skin, succeeded, 
and the exterior wrapper was cloth of the same kind, 
but unornamented. The female had a fan in her 
hand, composed of turkey feathers so disposed, that it 
might be opened and closed. 

" Human bodies have been discovered near the Cum- 
berland river, in the same state ; in the nitrous caves 
near Glasgow* and in the Mammoth Cave, in Ken- 
tucky ; all placed in the same sitting position, clothed 
in skins and cloths of various textures, inlaid with 
feathers— the bodies remaining in a high state of pre- 
servation, and the hair generally of a color varying 
from brown to yellow and red. This last peculiarity 
has given rise to many fanciful conjectures concern* 
ing the race to which the skeletons may be ascribed. 
Within the same caves many other miscellaneous ar- 
ticles have been found, far below the surface,- — such 
as bows and arrows, earthenware, fishing nets, cloths, 
mats, cane baskets, beads, wooden cups, moccasons of 
bark, various utensils and relics indicative of the char- 
acter of the deceased with whom they were buried ; 
and, more singular still, the bones of the peccari or 
Mexican hog, an animal not indigenous to the United 
States, but belonging to the more southern climates. 
In general, these caves have been great cemeteries of 
the dead, for bodies are being continually disinterred 
from the earth within them, and more than a hundred 
human skulls have been counted in one cave, within 
a space of twenty feet square. 

" The second class of Antiquities in the United 
States, proceeding from the same ancient people, ex- 
hibits, in an extended view, decisive proof of the im- 



284 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

mense numbers and advanced social condition of their 
authors. It comprehends the Mural Eemains, or en- 
closures — -formed by earthen embankments and trench- 
es ; which appear most numerously in the district 
bordering upon the Mississippi and its branches, and 
in the vicinity of the great lakes and their tributaries ; 
though they may be found stretching at intervals 
from New York to Florida, and from the Territory 
west of the Mississippi to the Alleghanies." 

We cannot here enter into a minute detail, respect- 
ing these interesting relics ; we can do little more than 
give a hasty enumeration of the most prominent. 
On the banks of the Genesee, there existed works, 
of an apparently military character, enclosing an area 
of nearly six acres. These were surrounded on three 
sides by a circular fosse, crossed by six entrances. 
On the open side was a high natural bank, through 
which a covered way led down to a neighboring stream. 
At a short distance to the south, were similar works, of 
even a more striking character. On the river Tona- 
wonde were two forts, one enclosing four and the 
other eight acres. In the town of Pompey were for- 
merly the remains of a fortified town, containing more 
than five hundred acres. This was defended by three 
elliptical forts, about eight miles distant from each 
other. Many other similar remains of fortifications 
and fortified towns, amounting to at least a hundred, 
have been found in the State of New York, between 
the head waters of the Delaware and Lake Erie. 
They are generally of regular forms, oblong, circular, 
triangular or elliptical : and they are now obliterated 
by cultivation, or overgrown by large forest trees. 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 285 

In the western parts of Virginia, there are similar 
remains. In Georgia are " many very magnificent 
monuments of the power and industry of the ancient 
inhabitants," consisting in one instance of traces of an 
extensive town, a stupendous terraced pyramid, &oc; 
and in others, of towns, fortifications and tumuli. Near 
Petersburg, on the Savannah river, is a truncated 
mound, fifty feet high, and eight hundred in circum- 
ference. A spiral path leads to the top, and there are 
four niches at the four cardinal points. Several infe- 
rior mounds are dispersed around it. Many similar 
remains extend through the whole country, from the 
Ohio to Florida, seeming to present a continuous line, 
pointing out the abodes of generations, long since 
passed away. 

Antiquities, similar to those we have described, 
abound in Ohio. " At Marietta, within the city limits, 
some years since, there were two large, oblong enclo- 
sures, and a conical mound ; the largest of the en- 
closures contained forty, and the other twenty acres 
of ground. They were encompassed by ramparts of 
earth, from six to ten feet high, and thirty feet in 
breadth at the base, and on each side were three gate- 
ways, at equal distances apart. A sort of covert way, 
formed of two parallel walls, two hundred and thirty- 
one feet apart, defended the approach to the Muskin- 
gum ; the walls were forty-two feet wide at the base, 
twenty-one feet high within, and five feet high on the 
outer sides. A line of smaller parallel walls leads 
down to the water from the corner of the fortification. 
Within the area enclosed, at the north-west corner, 
was an oblong terrace, nine feet high ; at the middle 



286 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

of each of its sides the earth was projected, forming 
gradual ascents to the top, ten feet in width. Near 
the south wall was another terrace, nearly similar ; 
at the south-east corner was another ; about the middle 
was a circular elevation ; and at the south-west cor- 
ner was a semicircular parapet, covered with a mound, 
which guarded the gateway or entrance in that 
quarter. 

" The other enclosure had a gateway in the middle 
of each side, and at the corners was defended by cir- 
cular mounds. A short distance from its south-east 
side was a conical mound, one hundred and fifteen 
feet in diameter, thirty feet high, and surrounded by 
a ditch and embankment, through which there was a 
gateway opening towards the fortification. The mound 
was protected in addition by outworks, and parapets, 
and other mounds. There were also found here ex- 
cavations,— originally of great size and depth, — still 
perceptible ; which were probably wells, and supplied 
the inhabitants with water." 

Near Newark, in Licking county, another extensive 
series of fortifications existed. " At Circleville, Ohio, 
there were two earthen enclosures, one an exact circle, 
and the other a precise square, with its sides facing 
the cardinal points, under no greater variation than 
that of the needle. The square enclosure had eight 
entrances, equidistant, and all defended by circular 
mounds within ; each side was fifty-nine rods in 
length, and the wall ten feet high. Upon its west 
side it was immediately connected with the circular 
enclosure, which was sixty-nine rods in diameter, and 
encompassed by double walls, twenty feet high, with 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 287 

a ditch intervening between them. In the centre of 
this circle was a mound, with a curious semicircular 
pavement on its eastern side ; and a short distance 
without the walls stood another mound, ninety feet 
high." 

Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and indeed the whole 
surface of the great valley of the west, is strewn with 
remains similar to those we have noticed. They have 
been more carefully examined in the settled districts, 
and especially in Ohio ; but doubtless many yet re- 
main buried in the forests, or encumbered with vege- 
tation, which have yet hardly attracted even the casual 
notice of the hunter or the traveller. 

" The last order of these antiquities in the United 
States consists of Mounds, which are square, oblong, 
or circular at the base, and conical or flat at the sum- 
mit. They are either tumuli, terraced elevations in 
the vicinity of the mural remains, or truncated py- 
ramidal erections. The tumuli are always the repo- 
sitories of the dead, and it is probable most of the other 
mounds may have served, secondarily, as sepulchres ; 
though the principal object of many, contiguous to the 
fortifications, was unquestionably defensive, while the 
purpose of others, and particularly of the larger trun- 
cated pyramids, was religious." 

Most of the ancient tumuli consist of earth, though 
there are some of stone. In their bosoms are gen- 
erally found ashes, calcined bones, and charred 
wood, enclosed in tombs made of flat pieces of stone. 
At Cincinnati was one of these mounds, 60 feet 
broad, and 620 long ; it was of an oval shape, adjust- 
ed to the cardinal points, and contained articles made 



288 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

of jasper, crystal and coal ; carved bones, beads, lead, 
copper, plates of mica, marine shells formed into uten- 
sils, and the sculptured head of a bird of prey. 

" So common are these tumuli, that on the Cahokia, 
nearly opposite to St. Louis, in the State of Illinois, 
within a circuit of four to seven miles, there are up- 
wards of one hundred and fifty mounds. One of these, 
called the Monk mound, from having been occupied 
by some friars of the order of La Trappe, is truncated, 
and in the form of a parallelogram, stretching from 
the north to the south. Its height is ninety feet, and 
the circumference of its base has been estimated to be 
from two thousand to two thousand four hundred 
feet. Upon the southern side is a terrace, twenty 
feet lower than the summit, which formerly was ap- 
proached by an inclined plane, projecting from its 
middle, about fifteen feet wide. The arrangement of 
some of the smaller mounds appears to have been 
made with reference to this ; and the mounds of 
another group, near by, are symmetrically placed in 
the form of a semicircle. Arrow-heads, earthenware, 
and human bones have been discovered in the vicini- 
ty, and by excavations into the body of the Monk 
mound." 

We cannot enter into further details respecting 
these interesting relics, but must refer the reader to 
the source already indicated, for a full view of the 
subject. It may be sufficient to state, in respect to 
the number of these ancient mounds and fortifications, 
that a careful author has said, " The traces of them 
are astonishingly numerous in the western country. 
I should not exaggerate if I were to say that five thou- 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 289 

sand might be found, some of them enclosing more 
than a hundred acres." 

The antiquity of these remains is attested by a 
variety of circumstances, though it is not to be sup- 
posed that they are all of contemporaneous origin. 
They prove that these regions have been swept over, 
in the dim and distant ocean of the past, by succes- 
sive waves of population, all of them marked with 
traces of civilization which distinguish them from 
the modern Indian tribes. Whence and when these 
people came, and whither they emigrated, are ques- 
tions to which no certain answer can be returned. 
After a careful survey of the whole subject, Mr. 
Bradford has arrived at the following conclusions, 
which are perhaps all that can be ascertained upon 
the subject. 

" 1. That they were all of the same origin, branch- 
es of the same race, and possessed of similar customs 
and institutions. 

" 2. That they were populous, and occupied a great 
extent of territory. 

"3. That they had arrived at a considerable degree 
of civilization, were associated in large communities, 
and lived in extensive cities. 

" 4. That they possessed the use of many of the 
metals, such as lead, copper, gold and silver, and pro- 
bably the art of working in them. 

" 5. That they sculptured in stone, and sometimes 
used that material in the construction of their edifices. 

" 6. That they had the knowledge of the arch of 
receding steps ; of the aYt of pottery, — producing 
utensils and urns formed with taste, and constructed 
s v.— 95 



290 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

upon the principles of chemical composition ; and of 
the art of brick-making. 

" 7. That they worked the salt springs, and manu- 
factured that substance. 

" 8. That they were an agricultural people, living 
under the influence and protection of regular forms 
of government. 

" 9. That they possessed a decided system of reli- 
gion, and a mythology connected with astronomy, 
which, with its sister science geometry, was in the 
hands of the priesthood. 

" 10. That they were skilled in the art of fortifica- 
tion. 

" 11. That the epoch of their original settlement, in 
the United States, is of great antiquity ; and, 

" Lastly, That the only indications of their origin, 
to be gathered from the locality of their ruined monu- 
ments, point towards Mexico." 

We close this topic by an extract from Flint. — 
" These vestiges of the past are generally found on 
fertile wooded bottoms, plains, or the richer alluvial 
prairies, where wild fruits, game and fish are abun- 
dant and at hand. The most dense ancient population 
existed precisely in the places where the most crowd- 
ed future population will exist in the generations to 
come. The appearance of a series of mounds gene- 
rally indicates the contiguity of rich and level lands, 
easy communications, fish, game, and the most favor- 
able adjacent positions. The only circumstance, which 
strongly discredits their having been formed by the 
progenitors of the present Indians, is the immensity 
of the size of some of them, beyond what could be ex- 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 29. 

pected from the sparse population and the indolence 
of the present race. We know of no monuments, 
which they now raise for their dead, that might not be 
the work of a few people in a few days. We have 
seen mounds, which would require the labor of a 
thousand of the men employed on our canals, with all 
their mechanical aids, and the improved implements 
of their labor for months. We have, more than once, 
hesitated in view of one of these prodigious mounds, 
whether it were not really a natural hill. But they 
are uniformly so placed, in reference to the adjoining 
country, and their conformation is so unique and sim- 
ilar, that no eye hesitates long in referring them' to 
the class of artificial erections. The largest, that has 
been discovered in the Ohio valley, as far as we know, 
is in the bottom of Grave creek, near its entrance into 
the Ohio, and fourteen miles below Wheeling. It 
is between thirty and forty rods in circumference at its 
base, with a proportionate diameter. It is seventy 
feet in perpendicular height ; and has a table area on 
its summit, which is sixty feet in diameter, in the 
centre of which is a great and regular concavity. A 
single white oak rises from this concavity, like a flag 
staff. 

" The most numerous group of mounds, that we 
have seen, is near Cahokia, in the American bottom. 
There are said to be two hundred in all. The largest 
is on the banks of Cahokia creek. Its form is that 
of a parallelogram. Its circumference is commonly 
given at eight hundred yards, and its height at ninety 
feet. There is a terrace on the south side of it. The 
monks of La Trappe had a monastery adjoining it, 



292 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

and their garden was on the terrace. They cultivated 
the mound. The earth could not have furnished them 
a place, more in keeping with their profession and 
avowed objects. In the midst of the American bot- 
tom, perhaps the most fertile spot on the globe, exert- 
ing its exhaustless fertility only in the production of 
dense forest, or a useless luxuriance of weeds and 
flowers, all in view of their dwelling is a solitary 
prairie. A few dreaming men, vowed to perpetual 
silence, apparently belonging more to another world, 
than this, seat themselves on one of these lonely and 
inexplicable monuments of generations, that are now 
no more, in the midst of gigantic weeds, gaudy flow- 
ers, and rank grass. — No noise disturbs them, by day 
or night, but the chirping of the grasshopper, or the 
cry of wolves, or the hooting of owls. 

" There are very interesting mounds near St. 
Louis, a little north of the town. Some of them have 
the aspect of enormous stacks. That one of them, 
called the ' falling garden,' is generally pointed out, 
as a great curiosity. — One of these mounds, and it 
was a very striking one, was levelled in the centre of 
Chillicothe. In digging it down, it was said, there 
were removed cart loads of human bones. The town 
of Circleville, in Ohio, is principally laid out within 
the limits of a couple of contiguous mounds ; the 
one circular, the other square. The town has its 
name from its position, chiefly in the circular mound. 
In this, and in many other mounds, the singular cir- 
cumstance is said to exist, and by people, w T ho live 
near them, and ought to know that, of which they af- 
firm, that the earth, of which they are composed, is 



INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 293 

entirely distinct from that in the vicinity. It is of no 
avail to enquire, why the builders should have en- 
countered the immense toil, to bring these hills of 
earth from another place. 

" Our country has been described abroad, as ster- 
ile of moral interest. We have, it is said, no mon- 
uments, no ruins, none of the colossal remains of 
temples, and baronial castles, and monkish towers ; 
nothing to connect the imagination and the heart with 
the past ; none of the dim recollections of times gone 
by, to associate the past with the future, We have 
not travelled in other lands. Bat in passing over our 
vast prairies, in viewing our noble and ancient forests? 
planted by nature, and nurtured only by ages ; when 
w T e have seen the sun rising over a boundless plain? 
where the blue of the heavens in all directions touched, 
and mingled with the verdure of the flowers ; when 
our thoughts have traversed rivers of a thousand 
leagues in length ; when we have seen the ascending 
steam-boat breasting the surge, and gleaming through 
the verdure of the trees ; w T hen we have imagined the 
happy multitudes, that from these shores will contem- 
plate this scenery in days to come ; we have thought, 
that our great country might at least compare with 
any other, in the beauty of its natural scenery. When, 
on an uninhabited prairie, we have fallen at nightfall 
upon a group of these mounds, we have thought of 
the masses of human bones, that moulder beneath ; 
when the heart and the imagination evoke the busy 
multitudes, that here ' strutted through life's poor 
play,' and ask the phantoms who and what they were, 
and why they have left no memorials, but these 
25* 



294 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

mounds ; we have found ample scope for reflections 
and associations of the past with the future. We 
should not highly estimate the mind, or the heart of 
the man, who could behold these tombs of the prairies 
without deep thought." 




MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE LEAD- 
ING INDIAN TRIBES OF THE WEST.* 

In the preceding pages we have given a rapid view 
of the manners, customs and antiquities of the North 
America savages. Our design has been to exhibit 
them as they were at the period when our forefathers 
first became acquainted with them, some two centuries 
ago : and at the same time to suggest how far the 
present tribes have preserved, and how far discarded 
the manners of their forefathers. In general, it may 
be said, that the present Indian of the west is the same 
as the red man that figures in the page of New Eng- 
land and Virginian colonial history ; the same in aspect 
and character ; the same in his physical, moral and 
intellectual conformation; the same in his thoughts 
and modes of life, except so far as contact with the 
white races has degraded him, or the introduction of 
a few of the arts of civilization, has modified his ex- 
istence. He has now the horse and the rifle, the 
steel knife and the iron tomahawk ; he has blankets, 
instead of skins, and kettles of iron instead of stone. 
But still he is, for the most part, a savage, — living 
chiefly by the chase, and finding his greatest delight 

*For a view of the several Western tribes, see Cabinet 
Library, volume — , " History of the American Indians/' page 
287, and onward. 



296 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



in taking the scalps of his enemy. He is still the 
same superstitious child of nature — referring every- 
thing he cannot explain to the agency of unseen spir- 
its ; cherishing revenge against his enemies as a car- 
dinal virtue, and looking to heaven for reward, in 
proportion to the number of warriors he has slain. It 
may, therefore, be said, that the customs of former 
times, are for the most part those of to-day. But for 
the purpose of showing distinctly the difference be- 
tween the past and the present, we shall proceed to 
give a rapid sketch of some of the great tribes of the 
west, as they now appear, exhibiting their peculiar 
and striking: characteristics. 




Camanchee on horseback. 

The Camanchees. — This famous and formidable 
tribe, numbering from twenty to forty thousand souls, 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



297 



inhabits a fine territory upon the Red River, within 
the limits of Texas, yet bordering upon the State of 
Louisiana. This is their home, but they wander 
westward and exercise a sort of casual domain over 
the wilds as far as the Pacific. They have long held 
an Ishmaelite character among their neighbors, and 
the adjacent Spaniards have often suffered from their 
depredations. Mr. Flint has drawn the following 
glowing picture of their country. 




Camanchee tent and family. 

" At the extremity of the village, the torrent, whose 
sources were in the mountains, poured down, from a 
prodigious elevation, a white and perpendicular cas- 
cade, which seemed a sheet suspended in the air. It 
falls into a circular basin, paved with blue limestone 
of some rods in circuit. The dash near at hand has 



298 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

a startling effect upon the ear. Bat at a little distance, 
it is just the murmur to inspire repose, and it spreads 
a delicious coolness all around the place. 

" From the basin the stream seems to partake of 
the repose of the valley ; for it broadens into a trans- 
parent and quiet water, whose banks are fringed with 
pawpaw, persimon, laurel, and catalpa shrubs and trees, 
interlaced with vines, under which the green carpet is 
rendered gay with flowers of every scent and hue. 
The soil is black, tender and exuberantly fertile. The 
coolness of the vale and the shade, together with the 
irrigation of the stream, cover the whole valley with a 
vivid verdure. The beautiful red-bird with its crimson- 
tufted crest, and the nightingale sparrow, pouring from 
a body scarcely larger than an acorn, a continued 
stream of sound, a prolonged, plaintive, and sweetly 
modulated harmony, that might be heard at the dis- 
tance of half a mile, had commenced their morning 
voluntary. The mocking bird, the buffoon of song- 
sters, was parodying the songs of all the rest. Its 
short and jerking notes, at times, imitated bursts of 
laughter. Sometimes, laying aside its habitual levity, 
it shows, that it knows the notes of seriousness, and 
trills a sweetly melancholy strain. 

" Above the summits of the frowning mountains, 
that mortal foot had never yet trodden, soared the 
mountain eagle, drinking the sunbeam in the pride of 
his native independence. Other birds of prey, appar- 
ently poised on their wings, swam slowly round in 
easy curves, and seemed to look with delight upon 
the green spot embosomed in the mountains. They 
sailed back and forwards, as though they could not 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



299 



tire of the view. The sun, which had burnished all 
the tops of the mountains with gold, and here and 
there glistened on hanks of snow, would not shine into 
the valley, until he had almost gained his meridian 
height. The natives, fleet as the deer, when on ex- 
peditions abroad, and at home, lazy and yawning, 
were just issuing from their cabins, and stretching 




Camanchee village. 
their limbs supinely in the cool of the morning. The 
smoke of their cabin fires had begun to undulate and 
whiten in horizontal pillars athwart the valley. The 
distant roar of the cascade, like the gong in Chinese 
music, seemed to mingle and harmonize all other 
sounds in the valley. It was a charming assemblage 
of strong contrasts, rocky and inaccessible mountains, 
the deep and incessant roar of the stream, a valley 
that seemed to sleep between these impregnable ram- 



300 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

parts of nature, a little region of landscape surrounded 
by black and rugged cliffs, on every side dotted thick 
with brilliant and beautiful vegetation, and fragrant 
with hundreds of acacias and catalpas in full flower — 
a spot sequestered like a lonely island in the midst of 
the ocean ; in the midst of it a busy, simple, and un- 
described people, whose forefathers had been born and 
had died here for uncounted generations ; a people, 
who could record wars, loves, and all the changes of 
fortune, if they had had their historian. Such was 
the valley of the Camanchees." 

From the same authority we extract the following 
sketch. 

" The Camanchees bear a general resemblance to 
the rest of the North American Indians. Inhabiting a 
healthful and temperate climate, living in constant 
abundance from their inexhaustible supplies of game, 
and having vast herds of cattle, horses, and mules, 
and constantly exercising in the open air, they attain 
the most perfect and entire development of the human 
form. They are of fine persons, large, muscular, and 
athletic. They are courageous, fierce, and indepen- 
dent, knowing no law but their own proud wills. I 
saw manifest proofs of their having put the Spaniards 
under frequent and heavy contributions ; for, besides 
that their trade with the Americans supplied them 
with rifles and yagers, they had levied from the Span- 
iards carbines, powder, and lead ; and quantities of 
bullion, silver, gold, and massive plate appeared in 
the cabins of the principal war chiefs. There were 
also cumbrous articles of mahogany furniture, splendid 
dresses and trappings, and crosses of gold, decked with 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 301 

gems among them. The Creole captives from the 
Spaniards were retained as slaves, and performed me- 
nial drudgery. Some of them were intermarried 
among the savages, and there were numbers of chil- 
dren of this mixed race." 

These people have permanent villages, which they 
occupy in winter, but at other seasons they move from 
place to place, chiefly for the purpose of living in the 
vicinity of the herds of buffaloes, confining their mi- 
grations, however, to what is deemed their own terri- 
tory. Their wigwams, like those of the Sioux and 
some other tribes, are made of skins, erected upon 
poles, and forming tents. When they remove, the 
poles are attached to their horses, making a kind of 
dray, and on these, the skins and other furniture are 
laid. The labor in these operations, is performed by 
the women, the whole charge of taking down, trans- 
porting and re-erecting the tents, being left to them. 

" The Camanchees," says Mr. Catlin, " like the 
northern tribes, have many games, and in pleasant 
weather seem to be continually practising more or 
less of them on the prairies, back of, and contiguous to 
their village. In their ball plays, and some other 
games, they are far behind the Sioux and others of 
the northern tribes ; but in racing horses, and riding, 
they are not equalled by any other Indians on the 
continent. Racing horses, it would seem, is a con- 
stant and almost incessant exercise, and their principal 
mode of gambling ; and perhaps a more finished set 
of jockeys are not to be found. The exercise of these 
people in a country where horses are so abundant, and 
the country so fine for riding, is chiefly done on horse- 
v.— 26 



302 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



back : and it stands to reason, that such a people, who 
have been practising from their childhood, should be- 
come exceedingly expert in this wholesome and beau- 
tiful exercise. 

" Amongst the feats of riding, there is one that has 
astonished me more than anything I have ever seen, 
or expect to see in my life : — a stratagem of war, 
learned and practised by every young man of the 
tribe ; by which he is able to drop his body upon the 




side of his horse at the instant he is passing, effectu- 
ally screened from his enemy's weapon as he lies in 
a horizontal position behind the body of his horse, 
with his heels hanging over the horse's back ; by 
which he has the power of throwing himself up again 
and changing to the other side of the horse if neces- 
sary. In this wonderful condition, he will hang while 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 303 

his horse is in full speed, carrying with him his bow 
and his shield, and also his lance of fourteen feet in 
length, all or either of which he will wield upon his 
enemy as he passes : rising and throwing his arrows 
over the horse's back, or with equal ease and equal 
success, under the horse's neck. This astonishing feat 
which the young men have been repeatedly playing 
off to our surprise as well as amusement, whilst they 
have been galloping about in front of our tents, com- 
pletely puzzled the whole of us ; and appeared to be 
the result of magic, rather than of skill acquired by 
practice. 

" I had several times great curiosity to approach 
them, to ascertain by what means their bodies could 
be suspended in this manner, where nothing could be 
seen but the heel hanging over the horse's back. In 
these endeavors I was continually frustrated, until 
one day I coaxed a young fellow up within a little 
distance of me, by offering him a few plugs of tobacco, 
and he in a moment solved the difficulty, so as appar- 
ently to render it more feasible than before, yet leaving 
it one of the most extraordinary results of practice and 
persevering endeavors. I found on examination, that 
a short hair halter was passed around the neck of the 
horse, and both ends tightly braided into the mane, 
or the withers, leaving a loop to hang under the 
neck, and against the heart, which being caught up 
in the hand, makes a sling, into which the elbow 
falls, taking the weight of the body on the middle of 
the upper arm. Into this loop, the rider drops sud- 
denly and fearlessly, leaving his heel to hang over 
the back of the horse, to steady him, and also to re- 



304 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



store him, when he wishes to regain his upright po- 
sition on the horse's back. 




Osage chief with his war club. 

The Osages. — The Osage Indians at present reside 
within what is called the Indian Territory, and near the 
Creeks. They live in villages, some of which deserve 
rather the name of large towns. In person they are 
among the largest and best formed of the Indian race, 
and are said to possess great genius for war ; but as 
they lead something like a settled life, and have made 
some progress in agriculture, they are less addicted to 
war than most of their neighbors. One of their vil- 
lages on the Arkansas is thus described by a traveller : 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 805 

11 The Osage village is built compactly, in the centre 
of a vast prairie. All the warriors, chiefs and young 
men, met us two miles from the town, mounted on good 
horses, and as fine as they had feathers, or anything 
else, to make them. The town consisted of one hun- 
dred and fifty dwellings, with from ten to fifteen per- 
sons in each house. The average height of the men 
is more than six feet. They are almost entirely in a 
state of nature, for few white people have ever been 
among them. They know nothing of the use of mo- 
ney; nor do they use any ardent spirits. I pitched 
my tent about half a mile from the town, and remained 
five days. They made dances and plays every night, 
to amuse me. These Indians have a native religion 
of their own, and are the only tribe I ever knew that 
had. At daybreak, every morning, I could hear them 
at prayer for an hour : they appeared to be as devout 
in their way as any class of people." 

The dress of the Osages consists of deerskin leggins, 
reaching upward to the hips, and a buffalo robe or 
blanket about their shoulders. They shave off their 
hair close to the head, except a line about half an inch 
wide, running round the head. The hair thus left is 
allowed to grow an inch long, and to this they attach 
ornaments. Their ears are slit in several places, and 
filled with strings of beads. They also wear orna- 
ments on their arms and legs. Their houses are made 
of poles, arched from fifteen to twenty feet high, and 
covered by mattings of flags. The inside is planked - 
and lined with mats. Several fires are built in the 
house, according to its size and the number of wives 
t 26* 



306 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

possessed by the owner. The fire-place is a hole of 
the size of a bushel basket, and the smoke goes out at 
a hole in the roof: around the fire they spread their 
mats upon which they eat. 

They have the common Indian weapons, the bow 
and arrow, tomahawk, war-club and scalping knife : a 
great number of them also have guns. Their govern- 
ment is of the same description as that of most of the 
other tribes, but their manners are less fierce and 
warlike. The neighboring tribes hold them in con- 
tempt as cowards. They have good horses, which 
they keep in excellent order. To obtain these ani- 
mals they go in large parties to the country on the 
Red River, where they are found wild in great num- 
bers. When they discover a gang of horses they 
distribute themselves into three parties, two of which 
take their stations at places where they know by ex- 
perience that the horses are likely to pass in attempt- 
ing to escape. The Indians being all mounted, the 
first party starts the wild horses and pursues them to- 
wards the second party, where the chase is continued 
with fresh horses to the station of the third party. 
The wild horses being by this time pretty well spent, 
this party succeeds generally in running them down, 
and noosing considerable numbers. 

The Osages raise every year crops of corn, beans 
and pumpkins : these they cultivate entirely with the 
hoe in the simplest manner. They usually plant in 
April, and give their fields one dressing before they 
leave their villages for the summer hunt, in May. 
About the first week in August, they return to their vil- 
lage to gather their crops, which have been left unhoed 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 307 

and unfenced all the season. Each family, if prudent, 
can save twenty or thirty bushels of corn and beans, 
besides a quantity of dried pumpkins. They have an 
autumnal hunt in September, and return to their vil- 
lage about Christmas, and remain till the beginning 
of spring, making short hunting excursions in the in- 
tervals of fine weather. The game is diminishing in 
their country, but this has had no other effect than to 
make them more expert hunters and warriors. 

The Osages have observed w T ith much apparent in- 
terest the effects of the agricultural skill of the whites, 
their fine gardens, abundant crops, and their numer- 
ous comforts and conveniences. A very sensible 
Osage, the Big Soldier, who had been twice at Wash- 
ington, said to an American agent : " I see and admire 
your manner of living, your good warm houses, your 
wide fields of corn, your gardens, your cows, oxen 3 
work-shops, wagons, and a thousand machines that I 
know not the use of. I see that you are able to clothe 
yourselves, even from weeds and grass. In short, you 
can do almost whatever you choose, and possess the 
power of subduing almost every animal to your use. 
But you are surrounded by slaves, and you are slaves 
yourselves. I fear that if I should exchange my pur- 
suits for yours, I should also become a slave. Talk to 
my sons— perhaps they may be persuaded to adopt 
your fashions, or, at least, to recommend them to their 
sons, but for myself, I was born free, brought up free, 
and I wish to die free." 

Among the peculiarities of the Osages, there is 
nothing more remarkable than the tradition relative to 
their origin. According to the universal belief, the 



808 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

founder of the nation was a snail, who passed a quiet 
existence along the banks of the Osage river, till a high 
flood swept him down to the Missouri, and left him 
exposed on the shore. The heat of the sun at length 
ripened him into a man : but with the change of his na- 
ture he had not forgotten his native seat on the Osage, 
towards which he immediately bent his way. He 
was, however, soon overtaken by hunger and fatigue, 
when happily the Great Spirit appeared, and giving 
him a bow and arrow, showed him how to kill and 
cook deer, and cover himself with the skin. He 
then proceeded to his original residence, but as he ap- 
proached the river he was met by a beaver, who in- 
quired haughtily who he was, and by what authority he 
came to disturb his possession. The Osage answered 
that the river was his own, for he had once lived on its 
borders. As they stood disputing, the daughter of the 
beaver came, and by her entreaties reconciled her 
father to the young stranger. It was proposed that 
the Osage should marry the young beaver, and 
share with her family the enjoyment of the terri- 
tory. The Osage readily consented, and from this 
happy union soon arose the village and nation of the 
Washasha or Osages. These for a long time preserved 
a pious reverence for their ancestor the beaver, ab- 
staining from the chase of that animal, till their com- 
merce with the whites rendered beaver-skins so val- 
uable as to overcome their scruples, and at the pre- 
sent day the beavers have nearly lost all privilege of 
kindred. 

At the period of Lewis and Clarke's expedition the 
Osages numbered between twelve and thirteen hun- 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



309 



dred warriors, and were divided into three tribes. Their 
numbers at present are not accurately known : they 
are continually removing from one village to another, 
quarrelling and intermarrying ; so that the population 
of no particular village can ever be correctly ascer- 
tained : but their numbers are supposed to be dimin- 
ishing. Several missionary establishments have been 
formed among them. The Indians above the age of 
twenty-five years generally refuse all instruction. 
Yet they seldom oppose the instruction of their chil- 
dren in the arts of civilized life. 




Pawnee chief. 

The Pawnees. — This nation is divided into three 
bands, called the Grand Pawnees, the Republican 



310 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



Paw?iees, and the Pawnee Loups. They dwell upon 
the river Platte and its branches. Their villages are 
large, and at a distance have the appearance of regu- 
larly built towns. The Pawnees are generally tall 




and well shaped, except the females, who are dimin- 
utive in size, and brutified in appearance by hard 
labor. When they smoke, the first puff is upward, 
intended for the Great Spirit, as an act of homage to 
him ; the second is to their mother earth, from whom 
they obtain their corn, and the third is horizontal, ex- 
pressive of their good will to their fellow man. The 
duties of the women are to cultivate the ground, to 
dress skins, and make clothes, saddles, bridles, &c, 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 311 

of buffalo hides; and to preserve the dead game brought 
to them by the hunters. The men, when not engaged 
in war and hunting, amuse themselves by exercise on 
horseback. Adjacent to each lodge in the village, is 
a large pen, in which the horses are placed for safety 
during the night. The police of each village is ap- 
pointed by the chief, and consists of a certain number - 
of warriors; they remain in office a few days, and are 
then replaced by others. While in office, there per- 
sons are held sacred, and when executing their func- 
tions no resistance against them is suffered. 

The Pawnee men cut their hair close, except a 
tuft on the top of the head, and which they plait as a 
valued ornament ; the removal of this would be dis- 
graceful. In seasons of mourning, however, they 
make this sacrifice to express their grief. They dress 
in buffalo robes and deer skins. The women suffer 
their hair to grow long. The girls of all ages are 
clothed, but the boys generally go naked in summer. 

The Pawnee Loups formerly had a custom alto- 
gether unique among the American Indians, of making 
propitiatory offerings to the Great Star, the name 
which they give to the planet Venus. The origin of 
this sanguinary rite is unknown. The ceremony was 
performed annually, immediately before their agricul- 
tural operations, for the success of which it was per- 
haps instituted : a breach of this duty would, in their 
belief, be followed by the total failure of their crops 
of maize, beans and pumpkins. To obviate this ca- 
lamity, any person was at liberty to offer up a prisoner 
of either sex, whom he had taken in war. The de- 
voted victim was clothed in the gayest and most costly 



312 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

attire, profusely supplied with the choicest food, and 
constantly attended by the magicians or jugglers, 
who anticipated all his wants, cautiously concealed 
from him the real object of their sedulous attentions, 
and endeavored to maintain him in a state of cheerful- 
ness, that he might grow fat, and render the sacrifice 
more acceptable. 

When the victim was thought sufficiently prepared, 
a day was appointed for the sacrifice, and the whole 
tribe assembled. He was bound to a cross, and a 
solemn dance was performed, with various other cer- 
emonies : after which the warrior who had taken him 
captive, clove his head with a tomahawk, and the mul- 
titude completed the execution by piercing him with 
their arrows. In the volume of this work which 
treats of the history of the Indians, an anecdote is 
related of a Pawnee brave, who rescued an Ietan 
woman, destined to this sacrifice. This brave was 
Petaleshavoo, the son of the Knife Chief, at that time 
the head of the nation. The old chief, who was of a 
mild and philanthropic disposition, had in vain attempt- 
ed to abolish this bloody ceremony. The success of 
Petaleshavoo in his daring enterprise, was the first 
step toward the accomplishment of this design. 

The young warrior was determined to repeat his 
attempts on every occasion that offered. The ensuing 
spring, a Pawnee who had captured a fine Spanish boy, 
vowed to sacrifice him to the Great Star, and accord- 
ingly placed him under the care of the jugglers for that 
purpose. The Knife Chief learning this, consulted with 
his son, respecting the means of preventing the bloody 
sacrifice. " I will rescue the boy," said Petaleshavoo, 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 313 

" as a warrior should, by force." But the old chief, 
unwilling that his son should again expose himself to 
a danger so imminent, hoped to induce the warrior to 
exchange his victim for some article of value. To 
obtain this, he resorted to an American trader, who 
was then in the village, with commodities for sale, 
and communicated to hirn his design. This person 
generously gave him a large quantity of merchandize, 
to which the chief, his son, and other Indians, added 
contributions sufficient to make the whole a very 
tempting offer. All this treasure was laid in a heap 
together, in the lodge of the chief, who then sum- 
moned the warrior before him. Arming himself with 
his war-club, he explained the object of the summons, 
and commanded the warrior to accept the merchan- 
dize and yield up the boy, or prepare for instant 
death. The warrior refused, and the chief lifted his 
club. " Strike," said Petaleshavoo, who stood near 
to assist his father, " I will meet the vengeance of his 
friends." But the more prudent and politic chief 
added a few articles of merchandize, in order to give 
the warrior an excuse for acquiescing, without forfeiting 
his word. The expedient was successful ; the goods 
were accepted ; the boy was liberated and conducted 
to St. Louis by the trader. The merchandize was 
sacrificed in his stead : the cloth was cut in shreds, 
and suspended at the place appointed for the ceremony, 
and the other articles were burnt. Since this period 
it is believed that no human sacrifice of this nature 
has taken place among the Pawnees. 

The Pawnees at present number about ten or twelve 
thousand souls, onlv one half the population which 
v.— 27 



314 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

existed in 1832, when the small-pox was introduced 
among them by the fur traders. So destructive was 
the progress of this terrible disease, that in a few 
months ten thousand of their number were swept away. 
The tribes of the Omahas, the Otoes and the Missou- 
ris were so reduced by the same calamity that they 
were unable to contend against their enemies, and 
sought the protection of the Pawnees, into which tribe 
they are now merged. The great nation of the Sioux 
also suffered by this visitation, as well as the Osages, 
Kanzas and Puncahs ; the latter were almost totally 
extirpated by it. 

The Pawnee Picts are a numerous and powerful 
tribe, inhabiting the country between the head waters 
of the Red River and the Rocky Mountains. They 
number from eight to ten thousand souls, and hold an 
established alliance with the Camanchees, hunting 
and feasting with them, and associating together for 
their common defence. Notwithstanding their name, 
these people are no way related to the Pawnees of the 
Platte, from whom they are separated by a distance 
of a thousand miles, and whom they know only as 
enemies. They are clumsily formed, but are expert 
horsemen. In their dress and customs they bear a 
strong resemblance to the Camanchees. 

The Sacs and Foxes.— These two tribes, former- 
ly distinct, are now completely amalgamated. Their 
territory lies west of the Mississippi. They are very 
expert hunters, and also display some skill in agri- 
culture. They leave their villages as soon as their 
crops are harvested and the traders have arrived and 
furnish them with goods, and proceed to their hunting 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 315 

grounds. The old men, women and children embark 




Woman and child. 

in canoes ; the young men go by land, on horses. 
The winter hunt lasts about three months. The 
traders follow them, and establish themselves at pla- 
ces convenient for collecting their debts, and supplying 
them with such commodities as they need. In a fa- 
vorable season, most of the Indians are able not only to 
pay the traders and to supply themselves with articles 
for the winter, but to lay up a considerable surplus 
of valuable peltry. 

The agricultural labor is chiefly performed by the 
women, and this is done entirely with the hoe. These 
also braid floor mats of a superior quality. The men 



316 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

who do not hunt, work at mining in the lead region. 
The chiefs take a great deal of pains to instruct the 
people in their duty. As soon as daylight appears, 
one of the principal men goes through the village pro- 
claiming in a loud voice what every man ought to do. 
Their communities in general, appear to be well re- 
gulated. The children of both sexes seem to be par- 
ticularly under the charge of their mothers ; the boys 
till they are of a suitable age to handle the bow or the 
gun. Corporal punishment is seldom used. If the 
child commits any fault deserving of correction, it is 
common for the mother to blacken its face and send 
it out of the wigwam : when this is done the child 
is not allowed to eat until the paint is removed. 
When the boys are six or seven years old, small bows 
and arrows are put into their hands, and they are sent 
to shoot birds around the village : this is practised five 
or six years, after which they are furnished with 
short guns, and begin to hunt ducks, geese, &c. Dur- 
ing the winter evenings, their fathers relate to them 
the manner of approaching a deer, elk, or buffalo, and 
the rrTethod of setting a trap, &c. 

These people appear to have some dim traditions 
of the Mosaic account of the creation of man. They 
state that the Great Spirit originally made two men 
of the dust of the earth, but finding- that these alone 
would not answer his purpose, he took from each man 
a rib, and made two women. From these four sprang 
all the red men. At first they were all one nation ; 
but afterwards in consequence of their bad behavior, 
the Great Spirit paid them a visit and talked differ- 
ent languages to them, which caused a confusion of 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



317 



tongues, and a general dispersion of mankind. In 
consideration of the superiority of the white men, 
they suppose them to have been created from fine 
dust, and the Indians from a coarser material. 




Siouz ball player. 

The Sioux.— These Indians are called in their own 
language Dahcotahs. The name of Sioux was be- 
stowed upon them by the French : but the meaning 
of it is not apparent. They constitute one of the most 
numerous tribes in North America ; their population 
being estimated at forty or fifty thousand. It is sup- 
posed that they could bring into the field eight or ten 
thousand warriors well armed, and a large portion of 
27* 



318 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

them mounted. They capture vast numbers of the 
wild horses on the plains toward the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Some of them have fire-arms, but the greater 
part hunt with bows and arrows, and long lances, 
shooting their game from their horses' backs while at 
full speed. Their personal appearance is fine and 
prepossessing ; their figures are tall and straight, and 
their movements elastic and graceful ; one half of 
their warriors measure six feet or more in height. 

The Sioux occupy a large tract of country extend- 
ing from the Mississippi to the base of the Rocky 
Mountains. They are everywhere a migratory, roam- 
ing people, and their different hordes or bands 
amount to forty-two, each of which has a chief; but 
there is a superior or head chief, whose authority is 
acknowledged by all. In general they are considered 
as divided into two main bodies, the Mississippi and 
the Missouri Sioux. Those inhabiting the banks 
of the Mississippi have made some advances toward 
civilization, and have held considerable intercourse 
with white people for several years. They are much 
addicted to the use of strong liquor, and are a very 
unfair representation of the great mass of their nation 
who dwell along the Missouri, and roam over the vast 
plains that lie between that river and the Rocky 
Mountains : this portion of the Sioux still maintain 
the original wildness of their character. 

These Indians have many modes of worshipping 
the Good, and conciliating the Evil Spirit : they have 
numerous fasts and feasts, and various forms of sa- 
crifices. An extraordinary and sanguinary custom 
prevails among them, which finds no parallel in any 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 319 

other tribe. It is a sort of penance of great cruelty, 
and is attended with only one palliating circumstance, 

which is, that it is voluntary. It is called " looking 
at the Sun." The individual who performs it is 
stripped nearly naked, and splints or skewers are 
run through his flesh on both breasts : cords are at- 
tached to these splints, and fastened to the top of a 
pole set in the ground. In this position, he leans 
back, with nearly the whole weight of his body hang- 
ing to the pole. The blood trickles from his wounds, 
and the crewel around him look on and encourage 
him. The musicians beat their drums and shake 
their rattles, and sing as loud as they can yell, to sus- 
tain his courage and fortitude. The sufferer in the 
mean time takes no notice of any one, but fixes his 
eyes upon the sun from morning to night, gradually 
turning his body with its progress, till he sees it sink 
below the horizon. If he faints and falls, of which 
there is imminent danger, he loses his reputation as a 
brave man, and suffers a signal disgrace in the estima- 
tion of the tribe, like all men who have the presump- 
tion to set themselves up for heroes or magicians, and 
fail to sustain the character. If his heart and strength 
have not failed him at sun-set, he is then liberated, 
and receives a liberal donation of presents which have 
been thrown into a pile before him, during the day, 
The title of doctor or medicine-man, is also confer- 
red upon him, which ensures him respect through life. 
The honorary degrees bestowed by our colleges are 
generallv purchased at a far easier rate ! 

The Sioux are inordinately fond of dancing, and 
have such a variety of this kind of amusement? that 



320 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



they might be characteristically termed the " dancing 
Indians." They seem to have dances appropriate to 
almost every occasion. Some of them are so gro- 
tesque and laughable as to keep the spectators in a 
constant roar of merriment; some are calculated to 
excite pity ; others disgust. In their villages, there is 
scarcely an hour of the day or night when the beat 
of the drum is not heard. Dancing in fact enters 
into their forms of worship, and is also their method 
of honoring and entertaining strangers of distinction, 




The bear dance. 



The Sioux, like the other tribes, are fond of bear's 
meat, and are careful to lay in good stores of the grease 
of this animal for the purpose of anointing their hair 
and skin. Previous to setting out upon a bear-hunt, 
the bear-dance is performed for several days together, 
in which they all join in a song to the Bear Spirit^ 
which they imagine has somewhere an invisible ex- 
istence, and must be conciliated before they can enter 



INDIANS OF THE WEST 321 

upon the chace with any prospect of success. In this 
extravagant and amusing scene, one of the chief 
" medicine-men" places over his body the entire skin 
of a bear, and takes the lead in the dance. Others 
wear masks made of the skin taken from bears' heads. 
All the performers imitate the motions of this beast, 
running on all fours, squatting, jumping up, &c. 
The Sioux have many other customs peculiar to 
themselves, but on the whole they resemble the great 
mass of the Western tribes. 

The Assineboins appear to be a branch of the Sioux 
nation. They occupy a tract of country extending 
ir to the British possessions, as far north as Lake 
Winnipeg. Their name signifies " stone-boiler," and 
is derived from their practice of cooking meat ; which 
is performed in the following manner. When an 
animal is killed, they dig a hole in the ground and 
line it with its raw hide. Water is poured into this, 
and the meat is boiled by keeping the water heated 
by the constant addition of red hot stones. This pro- 
cess is a very awkward and tedious one ; but the peo- 
ple are too unskilful to construct articles of pottery. 

The Assineboins are tall and well shaped, and wear 
their pictured robes of buffalo hide with much grace 
and picturesque effect. They are good hunters, and 
are tolerably well supplied with horses. Their games 
and amusements are numerous ; one of the favorite 
sports is playing at ball. They have also the game 
of the moccasin, horse-racing and dancing. They 
let their hair grow to a very great length ; and many 
of them may be seen with their tresses reaching down 
to the ground ; this, however, is sometimes the work 

TJ 



322 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



of art, for they have the faculty of splicing on addi- 
tional lengths which are fastened so ingeniously with 
glue and paste as completely to deceive the eye. 

The Sioux women, like those of most of the other 
Indian tribes, carry their children upon their backs. 
The child, in its earliest infancy, has its back lashed 
to a straight board, being fastened to it by bandages, 
which pass around it in front, and on the back of the 
board they are tightened to the necessary degree by 
lacing strings, which hold the infant in a straight and 
healthy position, with its feet resting on a broad hoop, 
passing around the foot of the cradle. The manner 
of suspending the cradle may be seen in the annexed 
engraving. The child's position as it hangs on its 




Sioux women. 

mother's back, that of standing erect, no doubt has a 
tendency to produce straight limbs, and sound lungs. 
The cradles are often highly ornamented. The band- 
ages are covered with a beautiful embroidery of por- 
cupine quills, exhibiting figures of horses, men, &c. 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 323 

In front, is suspended a little toy of exquisite work- 
manship, for the child to play with. 

If the infant dies during the time it should continue 
in the cradle, it is buried, and the disconsolate mother 
fills the cradle with black quills and feathers, and car- 
ries it around with her wherever she goes, for a year 
or more, with as much care, as if it were occupied by 
the living child. "While at her work in the wigwam, 
she is engaged also in chatting and talking familiarly 
to her infant, as if it heard and understood her lan- 
guage. So strong and lasting is the affection of moth- 
ers for their lost children, that it matters not how 
heavy are the loads which they are obliged to carry, 
or how rugged and painful the route they are travel- 
ling, they will faithfully carry this ' mourning cradle ' 
from day to day, with the utmost care, and even more 
strictly perform their duties to it, than if the child 
were alive. 

The Knisteneaux. — The Knisteneaux, or Crees, 
inhabit the territory north of the Missouri, and west of 
the Mississippi. They constitute a numerous tribe, 
and associate with the Assineboins, sometimes inter- 
marrying with them. Their manners and customs are 
similar, but there is no resemblance in their languages. 
They are well supplied with horses, and seldom travel 
or hunt on foot. Their clothing consists of cloth leg- 
gins, a shirt and a frock of deer skin, and a blanket or 
dressed buffalo hide thrown over the shoulders and tied 
round the waist. When attacked by disease, their com- 
mon method of cure is much the same as is practised 
by our modern steam doctors. The women erect a sort 
of hut of bended willows, nearly circular, three or four 



324 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



feet high. Over this they lay buffalo hides and other 
coverings, and in the centre of the hut they place a 
heap of red hot stones. The patient is then stripped, 
and enters with a dish of water in his hand, a little of 
which he throws from time to time on the stones ; this 
raises a hot steam, and causes a profuse perspiration. 
In this condition he remains about an hour, sustaining 
the most intense heat. On coming out he is fre- 
quently plunged into a river, or rubbed with snow. 




Chippeway chief. 

The Chippeways. — The Chippeways, or Odjibwas, 
as they are sometimes called, reside on the shores of 
Lakes Superior and Michigan. Their manners, dress, 
&c, resemble very nearly those of the tribes we have 
just described, but their method of going to war is 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 325 

peculiar. A warrior wishing to march against the 
enemy, blacks his face, abstains from food, and pre- 
pares a temporary lodge without the village, in which 
he sits and smokes his pipe. In the middle of the 
tent hangs a belt of wampum, a piece of ornamented 
scarlet cloth. A young Indian, who wishes to accom- 
pany him, goes into the lodge and draws the wampum 
or cloth through his left hand ; then sits down and 
smokes. Another and another follow in the same 
manner, and when a sufficient number are collected, 
they begin to compare their dreams day after day. 
If the dreams are favorable, they march immediately; 
if otherwise, the expedition is deferred. In setting 
out, the whole party meet at their leader's lodge, where 
they beat the drum, and pray to the Great Spirit to 
grant them success against their enemies. One in 
whom they place confidence is appointed to carry the 
medicine bag, which is made of the skin of some 
animal, and is regarded as a kind of amulet. 

Most of these Indians marry young, the men from 
sixteen to twenty, and the girls from fourteen to eigh- 
teen years of age. Wives are purchased, and consid- 
ered as the property of their husbands. Polygamy 
is practised among them, and they appear to have no 
marriage ceremonies whatever. 

Among the customs of this people, may be noticed 
the snow-shoe dance, which is performed at the falling 
of the first snow. It is described as being quite pic- 
turesque, and appears, like most other Indian dances, 
to blend amusement with religious feeling. It is de- 
signed, at least in part, as a thanksgiving to the Great 
Spirit, for the return of the season in which they may 
v.— 28 



326 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

more easily pursue their game, for, while they are 
supported on the snow by their shoes, the animals are 
obstructed in their progress, and are the less able to 
make their escape. 




Snow-shoe dance. 
" The bark canoe of the Chippeways," says Catlin, 
" is perhaps the most beautiful and light model of all 
the water crafts that were ever invented. They are 
generally made complete with the rind of one birch 
tree, and so ingeniously sewed together with roots of 
the tamarack, that they are water-tight, and ride upon 
the water as light as a cork. They gracefully lean and 
dodge about under the skilful balance of an Indian, 
or the ugliest squaw, but, like everything wild, seem 
timid and treacherous under the guidance of white 
men." The Chippeways are much addicted to the 
use of canoes, as well for business as amusement. 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



327 



They often engage in boat races, which elicit all the 
wild and passionate energy of the savage. 




Chippeway boat race. 

The Blackfeet. — The Blackfeet are one of the 
most powerful and warlike tribes on the continent. 
They occupy the whole of the territory about the 
sources of the Missouri, and from this region to the 
Rocky Mountains. Their numbers are estimated at 
forty or fifty thousand. They roam fearlessly over 
the country, through every part of the mountainous 
territory, maintaining a perpetual hostility with almost 
all the neighboring tribes. Being aware of their 
strength, they have stubbornly resisted the formation 
of trading establishments in their country. This re- 
gion abounds in beaver and buffalo, and the American 
Fur Company, with an unconquerable spirit of trade 



328 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



and enterprise, has pushed its establishments across 
their borders, and the numerous parties of trappers 
are traversing the banks of their rivers, and destroying 
the beavers. The Blackfeet have repeatedly informed 
the traders of the company, that if their men persist 
in hunting beaver upon the Indian territory, they 
should kill them wherever they met with them, which 
threat they have frequently put in execution. 




Blackfoot woman. 

This tribe is divided into four bands, or families. 
They are of a middling height, but stout, with broad 
shoulders and great expanse of chest. The skins 
of which their dresses are made, are chiefly of a dark 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 829 

color; and their black leggins, or moccasons, have 
probably given them the name which they bear. 

No tribe on the continent pays a greater attention to 
dress than the Blackfeec, unless it be their hereditary 
enemies, the Crows. Their apparel is not only more 
ample and comfortable than that of other Indians, but 
is exceedingly gaudy. 

The Biackfeet construct their wigwams, or lodges, 
of buffalo skins, sewed together and made into the 
form of a tent. This is supported on the inside by 
twenty or thirty long poles, having an opening at the 
top to admit the light and let out the smoke. These 
lodges are taken down in a few minutes by the squaws, 
when they wish to change their residence, and are 
easily transported to any part of the country. They 
generally remove six or eight times in the course of a 
summer, following the immense herds of buffaloes as 
they range over the vast plains. The manner in 
which an encampment of Indians strike their tents, 
and transport them, is curious, and affords a novel and 
interesting sight to a traveller. The chief sends his 
runners, or criers through the village, a few hours 
before the removal is to be made, announcing his de- 
termination to decamp, and the hour fixed upon for 
the departure. The preparations are immediately 
made, arid at the moment prescribed, the lodge of the 
chief is seen flapping in the wind, a part of the poles 
having been taken out from under it. This is the 
signal, and in one moment five or six hundred tall 
tents are seen waving and flapping in the wind, and 
in a minute more, are flat upon the ground. The 
horses and dogs are all ready, and each one is speedily 
28* 



330 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

loaded with his burden, and prepared to fall into the 
procession. 



Blackfeet Indians removing. 

For this curious cavalcade, preparation is made in the 
following manner. The poles of a lodge are divided 
into two bundles, and the small ends of each bundle 
are fastened upon the shoulders, or withers of a horse, 
leaving the but ends to drag upon the ground on each 
side. Just behind the animal, a brace is tied across, 
which keeps these shafts in their respective places. 
On this dragging vehicle, is placed a heavy load, con- 
sisting of the tent covering, rolled up, numerous 
articles of domestic furniture, and on the top of all, 
two, three or four women and children. Each of the 
horses has a conductress, who sometimes walks before 
and leads it, with an enormous pack upon her own 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 331 

back ; at other times she sits upon the animal, with a 
child perhaps at her breast, and another astride of the 
horse behind her. In this way, five or six hundred 
Indian dwellings, with all their furniture, maybe seen 
drawn out for miles, creeping over the grass-covered 
plains of the west, and three times that number of 
men mounted on fine horses, strolling along in front 
or on the flanks. In some tribes, the rear of this 
heterogeneous caravan will be brought up by a body 
of two or three thousand dogs, each of the large ones 
dragging a car or sled. 

The Shoshonees. — -The Shoshonees are a small 
tribe of the race called Snake Indians, a vague deno- 
mination which embraces at once the inhabitants of 
the southern parts of the Rocky Mountains, and of 
the plains on each side. They live a migratory life, 
residing in summer on the head streams of the Oregon, 
where they are secure from their enemies the Paw- 
nees. During this period, they subsist on salmon, 
which are abundant in those streams ; but on the ap- 
proach of autumn, they are compelled to seek subsist- 
ence elsewhere. They then cross the mountains to 
the head streams of the Missouri, where they join 
their friends the Flatheads, and hunt buffaloes in the 
plains, east of the mountains, near which they spend 
the winter, till the return of the salmon invites them 
again to the waters of the Oregon. But such is their 
terror of the Pawnees, that as long as they can obtain 
the scantiest subsistence, they do not leave the ele- 
vated country ; and as soon as they have collected a 
large stock of dried meat they again retreat, thus al- 
ternately obtaining their food at the hazard of their 



382 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

lives, and hiding themselves to consume it. In this 
loose and wandering existence they suffer the ex- 
tremes of want ; for two thirds of the year they are 
forced to live among the mountains, passing whole 
weeks without meat, and with no other food than a 
scanty supply of fish and roots. 

Yet notwithstanding the incessant hardships to 
which they are exposed, the Shoshonees are cheerful 
and even gay. In their intercourse with strangers, 
they are frank and communicative, and in their deal* 
ings perfectly fair. But little government exists among 
them. Each individual is his own master, and the 
only rule to which he is subjected as a member of the 
community is the advice of a chief, supported by his 
influence over the opinions of the rest of the tribe. 
The chief himself is in fact no more than the most 
experienced person among the warriors, a rank neither 
distinguished by any external honor nor invested by 
any personal ceremony, but gradually acquired through 
the good opinion of his companions, and by a sense 
of his superior merit. In their domestic economy, 
the man is the sole proprietor of his wives and 
daughters, and can barter them away or dispose of 
them in any manner he may think proper. The 
children are seldom corrected, and the boys soon be- 
come their own masters ; they are never whipped, 
from a belief that it breaks their spirit. Polygamy is 
very common. 

The females are condemned, as among almost all 
savage nations, to the lowest and most laborious 
drudgery. When the tribe is stationary, they collect 
the roots, and do the cooking : they build the huts, 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 333 

dress the skins, and make clothing, gather fuel, and 
assist in taking care of the horses. The only busi- 
ness of the man is to fight, hunt and fish : he therefore 
takes on himself the care of his horse, the companion 
of his warfare. He would consider himself degraded 
by being compelled to walk any distance, and were he 
so poor as to possess only two horses, he would ride 
the better one, and leave the other for his wives, 
children and baggage. Their stock of horses, how- 
ever, is commonly very large : each warrior has one 
or two tied to a stake near his hut day and night, so 
as to be always ready for action. The Shoshonees 
are a warlike tribe. Their cold and rugged country 
inures them to fatigue ; their long abstinence enables 
them to support the dangers of mountain warfare. 
They always fight on horseback. They have a few 
bad guns, but their common arms are the bow and ar- 
row, a shield, a lance, and a weapon called the 
poggamoggon, which consists of a stone fastened to 
the end of a thong, and is capable of striking a very 
severe blow. They have a sort of armor, which is 
something like a coat of mail, and is formed by a great 
many folds of dressed antelope skins, united by a ce- 
ment of glue and sand. They are expert horsemen, 
and when armed and mounted, the Shoshonee is a 
formidable enemy, notwithstanding the inferiority 
of his weapons. When they attack at full speed, they 
bend forward and cover their bodies with their shields, 
while with the right hand they shoot under the horse's 
neck. 

These Indians are among the most ill-looking of all 
the North American savages. They are of a diminu- 



334 INDIANS OF THE WEST. 

tive stature, and dark complexion, with thick flat feet 
and crooked legs. They hold some intercourse with 
the Spaniards, from whom they obtain mules and 
certain articles for domestic use. They have the com- 
mon Indian fondness for finery, and the fur tippets of 
the women are uncommonly beautiful. They wear 
pearl ornaments which they obtain from a friendly 
tribe living to the south-west, beyond the barren plains 
on the western side of the mountains. 

The Chinnooks. — These Indians inhabit the coun- 
try about the mouth of the Oregon. They are an ill- 
looking race, of a diminutive stature, with broad, 
thick flat feet, thick ankles and crooked legs ; this 
last deformity is owing, probably, to the universal prac- 
tice of squatting or sitting upon their heels, and to the 
tight bandages of beads and strings worn by the women 
round their ankles. Their complexion is the usual 
copper-colored brown, but somewhat lighter than that 
of the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains. The 
Chinnooks, as well as all the neighboring tribes, prac- 
tise the custom of flattening the head, by placing it, 
during infancy, between two boards. The females 
tattoo their skins ; but the favorite ornaments of both 
sexes, are coarse white and blue beads, strings of 
which are wound very tightly about their wrists and 
ankles, to the width of three or four inches. They 
also wear large quantities round the neck, in the ears, 
and hanging from the nose, which last mode is pecu- 
liar to the men. 

The moral qualities of these people have been de- 
scribed in a very contradictory manner by the different 
individuals who have visited them. Lewis and Clarke 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 335 

found them mild and inoffensive, and uniformly expe- 
rienced the most friendly treatment from them, al- 
though they would occasionally pilfer small articles. 
In their traffic, they were acute and intelligent, em- 
ploying in all their bargains, a dexterity and foresight 
which seemed to belong to a more civilized race. 
They began by asking double and treble the value of 
their commodities, and lowering their demands in 
proportion to the wariness of the purchaser. The 
first offer they always rejected, so that after refusing 
the most extravagant prices which were first proposed 
by way of experiment, they would at last importune 
for a tenth part of the sum. In this respect they differ 
from almost all other Indians, who will generally ex- 
change in a thoughtless moment the most valuable 
article they possess for any bauble which happens to 
please their fancy. 

A modern traveller has declared that their good 
qualities are few, and their vices many. According 
to his account, they are industrious, patient and sober, 
but addicted to theft, lying, incontinence, gaming and 
cruelty. They are also complete hypocrites. Each 
community accuses the other of envy, hatred, malice, 
and all un charitableness. Even the inhabitants of 
the same village, while, they feign an outward appear- 
ance of friendship, indulge in backbiting, — in this re- 
spect differing little from the people of more civilized 
countries. Their bravery seems doubtful ; but what 
they lack in courage, they make up in effrontery. 
Fear alone prevents them from making open attempts 
at robbery, and what they practise in this way, 
amounts to no more than petty larceny. 



336 



INDIANS OF THE WEST. 



They purchase slaves from the neighboring tribes, 
for beaver and other skins, beads, &c. While in 
good health and able to work, these are well treated ; 
but as soon as 'they fall sick, or become unfit for labor, 
the unfortunate slaves are totally neglected, and left 
to perish. It sometimes happens that a slave is adopt- 
ed by a family, in which case he is permitted to marry 
one of the tribe, and his children by undergoing the 
flattening process, become adopted into it. 

When a Chinnook dies, his body is placed in a 
small canoe, with his bow, arrows, and other weapons 
by his side. The canoe is then lodged upon a high 
platform near the seaside, or upon rocks out of the 
reach of the tide, and covered with mats. If the rela- 
tives of the deceased can afford it, a larger canoe 
is placed bottom upwards, over him, and both are 
firmly bound together. His wives, relatives, and 
slaves go into mourning, by cutting their hair, and for 
some time after his death, repair twice a day, at the 
rising and setting of the sun, to an adjoining wood, to 
chant his funeral dirge. 

The Chinnooks, in common with all the tribes of 
the Oregon territory, differ remarkably in one impor- 
tant respect from most other Indians ; they have a 
strong and unconquerable dislike to intoxicating 
liquors. They, however, sometimes exhilarate them- 
selves by smoking tobacco, of which they are exces- 
sively fond, and the enjoyment of which they prolong 
as much as possible, by retaining large quantities of 
smoke, till after circulating through the lungs and 
stomach, it issues in volumes from the mouth and nos- 
trils. Their worst vice appears to be gaming, which 
they pursue with a reckless and ruinous avidity. 



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